Microorganisms for producing propylene and methods related thereto

ABSTRACT

The invention provides non-naturally occurring microbial organisms having a propylene pathway. The invention additionally provides methods of using such organisms to produce propylene.

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 61/500,087, filed Jun. 22, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The instant application contains a Sequence Listing which has been submitted via EFS-Web and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Said ASCII copy, created on Jun. 18, 2012, is named 871943-999137_US_Sequence_Listing.txt and is 77,759 bytes in size.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to biosynthetic processes, and more specifically to organisms having propylene biosynthetic capability.

Propylene is produced primarily as a by-product of petroleum refining and of ethylene production by steam cracking of hydrocarbon feedstocks. Propene is separated by fractional distillation from hydrocarbon mixtures obtained from cracking and other refining processes. Typical hydrocarbon feedstocks are from non-renewable fossil fuels, such as petroleum, natural gas and to a much lesser extent coal. Over 75 billion pounds of propylene are manufactured annually, making it the second largest fossil-based chemical produced behind ethylene. Propylene is a base chemical that is converted into a wide range of polymers, polymer intermediates and chemicals. Some of the most common derivatives of chemical and polymer grade propylene are polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol and cumene. The use of the propylene derivative, polypropylene, in the production of plastics, such as injection moulding, and fibers, such as carpets, accounts for over one-third of U.S. consumption for this derivative. Propylene is also used in the production of synthetic rubber and as a propellant or component in aerosols.

The ability to manufacture propylene from alternative and/or renewable feedstocks would represent a major advance in the quest for more sustainable chemical production processes. One possible way to produce propylene renewably involves fermentation of sugars or other feedstocks to produce the alcohols 2-propanol (isopropanol) or 1-propanol, which is separated, purified, and then dehydrated to propylene in a second step involving metal-based catalysis. Direct fermentative production of propylene from renewable feedstocks would obviate the need for dehydration. During fermentative production, propylene gas would be continuously emitted from the fermenter, which could be readily collected and condensed. Developing a fermentative production process would also eliminate the need for fossil-based propylene and would allow substantial savings in cost, energy, and harmful waste and emissions relative to petrochemically-derived propylene.

Microbial organisms and methods for effectively producing propylene from cheap renewable feedstocks such as molasses, sugar cane juice, and sugars derived from biomass sources, including agricultural and wood waste, as well as C1 feedstocks such as syngas and carbon dioxide, are described herein and include related advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides non-naturally occurring microbial organisms containing propylene pathways comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene. The invention additionally provides methods of using such microbial organisms to produce propylene, by culturing a non-naturally occurring microbial organism containing propylene pathways as described herein under conditions and for a sufficient period of time to produce propylene.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the conversion of 2-ketoglutarate to ethylene and carbon dioxide by an ethylene forming enzyme.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary pathway for production of propylene from 2-ketoglutarate by a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase and a propylene forming enzyme.

FIG. 3 shows exemplary pathways for production of propylene from pyruvate. Enzymes for transformation of the identified substrates to products include: A) a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, B) a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, C) a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, D) a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, E) a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase, and F) a propylene forming enzyme.

FIG. 4 shows pathways from leucine and acetoacetate to 3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate. Enzymes for transformation of the identified substrates to products include: A. Leucine aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase, B. 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate dehydrogenase, C. isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase, D. 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase, E. 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydrolase, transferase or synthetase, F. 3-methylglutaconate hydratase, G. 3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase, H. 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA dehydratase and I. 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase.

FIG. 5 shows pathways to 4-methyl-2-oxoglutarate from lysine. Enzymes for transformation of the identified substrates to products include: A. Lysine 6-aminotransferase, 6-dehydrogenase (deaminating) or 6-oxidase, B. 2-aminoadipate dehydrogenase, C. 2-aminoadipate mutase, D. 4-methyl-2-aminoglutarate aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase, E. 2-aminoadipate aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase, and F. 2-oxoadipate mutase.

FIG. 6 shows the reverse TCA cycle for fixation of CO₂ on carbohydrates as substrates. The enzymatic transformations are carried out by the enzymes as shown.

FIG. 7 shows the pathway for the reverse TCA cycle coupled with carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and hydrogenase for the conversion of syngas to acetyl-CoA.

FIG. 8 shows Western blots of 10 micrograms ACS90 (lane 1), ACS91 (lane 2), Mta98/99 (lanes 3 and 4) cell extracts with size standards (lane 5) and controls of M. thermoacetica CODH (Moth_(—)1202/1203) or Mtr (Moth_(—)1197) proteins (50, 150, 250, 350, 450, 500, 750, 900, and 1000 ng).

FIG. 9 shows CO oxidation assay results. Cells (M. thermoacetica or E. coli with the CODH/ACS operon; ACS90 or ACS91 or empty vector: pZA33S) were grown and extracts prepared. Assays were performed at 55° C. at various times on the day the extracts were prepared. Reduction of methylviologen was followed at 578 nm over a 120 sec time course.

FIG. 10A shows the nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) of carboxylic acid reductase from Nocardia iowensis (GNM_(—)720), and FIG. 10B shows the encoded amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 2).

FIG. 11A shows the nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 3) of phosphpantetheine transferase, which was codon optimized, and FIG. 11B shows the encoded amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 4).

FIG. 12A shows the nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 5) of carboxylic acid reductase from Mycobacterium smegmatis mc(2)155 (designated 890), and FIG. 12B shows the encoded amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 6).

FIG. 13A shows the nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 7) of carboxylic acid reductase from Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis K-10 (designated 891), and FIG. 13B shows the encoded amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 8).

FIG. 14A shows the nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 9) of carboxylic acid reductase from Mycobacterium marinum M (designated 892), and FIG. 14B shows the encoded amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 10).

FIG. 15A shows the nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 11) of carboxylic acid reductase designated 891GA, and FIG. 15B shows the encoded amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO: 12).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to the design and production of cells and organisms having biosynthetic production capabilities for propylene. The invention, in particular, relates to the design of microbial organism capable of producing propylene by introducing one or more nucleic acids encoding a propylene pathway enzyme.

In one embodiment, the invention utilizes in silico stoichiometric models of Escherichia coli metabolism that identify metabolic designs for biosynthetic production of propylene. The results described herein indicate that metabolic pathways can be designed and recombinantly engineered to achieve the biosynthesis of propylene in Escherichia coli and other cells or organisms. Biosynthetic production of propylene, for example, for the in silico designs can be confirmed by construction of strains having the designed metabolic genotype. These metabolically engineered cells or organisms also can be subjected to adaptive evolution to further augment propylene biosynthesis, including under conditions approaching theoretical maximum growth.

In certain embodiments, the propylene biosynthesis characteristics of the designed strains make them genetically stable and particularly useful in continuous bioprocesses. Separate strain design strategies were identified with incorporation of different non-native or heterologous reaction capabilities into E. coli or other host organisms leading to propylene producing metabolic pathways from either 2-ketoglutarate or pyruvate. In silico metabolic designs were identified that resulted in the biosynthesis of propylene in microorganisms from each of these substrates or metabolic intermediates.

Strains identified via the computational component of the platform can be put into actual production by genetically engineering any of the predicted metabolic alterations, which lead to the biosynthetic production of propylene or other intermediate and/or downstream products. In yet a further embodiment, strains exhibiting biosynthetic production of these compounds can be further subjected to adaptive evolution to further augment product biosynthesis. The levels of product biosynthesis yield following adaptive evolution also can be predicted by the computational component of the system.

The maximum theoretical propylene yield from glucose is 1.33 mol/mol (0.311 g/g):

3C₆H₁₂O₆=4C₃H₆+6CO₂+6H₂O

The pathways presented in FIGS. 2 and 3 achieve a yield of 1 mole propylene per mole of glucose utilized assuming 2 pyruvate molecules or 1 alpha-ketoglutarate molecule can be formed from glucose. Increasing product yields to 1.33 mol/mol is possible if cells are capable of fixing some of the CO₂ released from the depicted pathways or from the production of alpha-ketoglutarate through carbon-fixing mechanisms such as the reductive (or reverse) TCA cycle or the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway supplemented with pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase.

As used herein, the term “non-naturally occurring” when used in reference to a microbial organism or microorganism of the invention is intended to mean that the microbial organism has at least one genetic alteration not normally found in a naturally occurring strain of the referenced species, including wild-type strains of the referenced species. Genetic alterations include, for example, modifications introducing expressible nucleic acids encoding metabolic polypeptides, other nucleic acid additions, nucleic acid deletions and/or other functional disruption of the microbial organism's genetic material. Such modifications include, for example, coding regions and functional fragments thereof, for heterologous, homologous or both heterologous and homologous polypeptides for the referenced species. Additional modifications include, for example, non-coding regulatory regions in which the modifications alter expression of a gene or operon. Exemplary metabolic polypeptides include enzymes or proteins within a propylene biosynthetic pathway.

A metabolic modification refers to a biochemical reaction that is altered from its naturally occurring state. Therefore, non-naturally occurring microorganisms can have genetic modifications to nucleic acids encoding metabolic polypeptides, or functional fragments thereof. Exemplary metabolic modifications are disclosed herein.

As used herein, the term “propylene,” having the molecular formula C₃H₆ and a molecular mass of 42.08 g/mol (see FIGS. 2 and 3) (IUPAC name Propene) is used interchangeably throughout with 1-propene, 1-propylene, methylethene and methylethylene. At room temperature, propylene is a colorless gas with a weak but unpleasant smell. Propylene has a higher density and boiling point than ethylene due to its greater size, whereas it has a slightly lower boiling point than propane in addition to being more volatile. Propylene lacks strongly polar bonds, yet the molecule has a small dipole moment due to its reduced symmetry. Propylene is also a structural isomer to cyclopropane.

As used herein, the term “isolated” when used in reference to a microbial organism is intended to mean an organism that is substantially free of at least one component as the referenced microbial organism is found in nature. The term includes a microbial organism that is removed from some or all components as it is found in its natural environment. The term also includes a microbial organism that is removed from some or all components as the microbial organism is found in non-naturally occurring environments. Therefore, an isolated microbial organism is partly or completely separated from other substances as it is found in nature or as it is grown, stored or subsisted in non-naturally occurring environments. Specific examples of isolated microbial organisms include partially pure microbes, substantially pure microbes and microbes cultured in a medium that is non-naturally occurring.

As used herein, the terms “microbial,” “microbial organism” or “microorganism” are intended to mean any organism that exists as a microscopic cell that is included within the domains of archaea, bacteria or eukarya. Therefore, the term is intended to encompass prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells or organisms having a microscopic size and includes bacteria, archaea and eubacteria of all species as well as eukaryotic microorganisms such as yeast and fungi. The term also includes cell cultures of any species that can be cultured for the production of a biochemical.

As used herein, the term “S-Adenosyl methionine” or “SAM,” having the molecular formula C₁₅H₂₂N₆O₅S⁺ and a molecular mass of 398.44 g/mol (IUPAC name: (2S)-2-Amino-4-[[(2S,3S,4R,5R)-5-(6-aminopurin-9-yl)-3,4-dihydroxyoxolan-2-yl]methyl-methylsulfonio]butanoate) is a co-substrate involved in methyl group transfers. Transmethylation, transsulfuration, and aminopropylation are some of the metabolic pathways that use SAM. The methyl group (CH₃) attached to the methionine sulfur atom in SAM is chemically reactive. This allows donation of this group to an acceptor substrate in transmethylation reactions.

As used herein, the term “CoA” or “coenzyme A” is intended to mean an organic cofactor or prosthetic group (nonprotein portion of an enzyme) whose presence is required for the activity of many enzymes (the apoenzyme) to form an active enzyme system. Coenzyme A functions in certain condensing enzymes, acts in acetyl or other acyl group transfer and in fatty acid synthesis and oxidation, pyruvate oxidation and in other acetylation.

As used herein, the term “substantially anaerobic” when used in reference to a culture or growth condition is intended to mean that the amount of oxygen is less than about 10% of saturation for dissolved oxygen in liquid media. The term also is intended to include sealed chambers of liquid or solid medium maintained with an atmosphere of less than about 1% oxygen.

“Exogenous” as it is used herein is intended to mean that the referenced molecule or the referenced activity is introduced into the host microbial organism. The molecule can be introduced, for example, by introduction of an encoding nucleic acid into the host genetic material such as by integration into a host chromosome or as non-chromosomal genetic material such as a plasmid. Therefore, the term as it is used in reference to expression of an encoding nucleic acid refers to introduction of the encoding nucleic acid in an expressible form into the microbial organism. When used in reference to a biosynthetic activity, the term refers to an activity that is introduced into the host reference organism. The source can be, for example, a homologous or heterologous encoding nucleic acid that expresses the referenced activity following introduction into the host microbial organism. Therefore, the term “endogenous” refers to a referenced molecule or activity that is present in the host. Similarly, the term when used in reference to expression of an encoding nucleic acid refers to expression of an encoding nucleic acid contained within the microbial organism. The term “heterologous” refers to a molecule or activity derived from a source other than the referenced species whereas “homologous” refers to a molecule or activity derived from the host microbial organism. Accordingly, exogenous expression of an encoding nucleic acid of the invention can utilize either or both a heterologous or homologous encoding nucleic acid.

It is understood that when more than one exogenous nucleic acid is included in a microbial organism that the more than one exogenous nucleic acids refers to the referenced encoding nucleic acid or biosynthetic activity, as discussed above. It is further understood, as disclosed herein, that such more than one exogenous nucleic acids can be introduced into the host microbial organism on separate nucleic acid molecules, on polycistronic nucleic acid molecules, or a combination thereof, and still be considered as more than one exogenous nucleic acid. For example, as disclosed herein a microbial organism can be engineered to express two or more exogenous nucleic acids encoding a desired pathway enzyme or protein. In the case where two exogenous nucleic acids encoding a desired activity are introduced into a host microbial organism, it is understood that the two exogenous nucleic acids can be introduced as a single nucleic acid, for example, on a single plasmid, on separate plasmids, can be integrated into the host chromosome at a single site or multiple sites, and still be considered as two exogenous nucleic acids. Similarly, it is understood that more than two exogenous nucleic acids can be introduced into a host organism in any desired combination, for example, on a single plasmid, on separate plasmids, can be integrated into the host chromosome at a single site or multiple sites, and still be considered as two or more exogenous nucleic acids, for example three exogenous nucleic acids. Thus, the number of referenced exogenous nucleic acids or biosynthetic activities refers to the number of encoding nucleic acids or the number of biosynthetic activities, not the number of separate nucleic acids introduced into the host organism.

The non-naturally occurring microbal organisms of the invention can contain stable genetic alterations, which refers to microorganisms that can be cultured for greater than five generations without loss of the alteration. Generally, stable genetic alterations include modifications that persist greater than 10 generations, particularly stable modifications will persist more than about 25 generations, and more particularly, stable genetic modifications will be greater than 50 generations, including indefinitely.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the genetic alterations, including metabolic modifications exemplified herein, are described with reference to a suitable host organism such as E. coli and their corresponding metabolic reactions or a suitable source organism for desired genetic material such as genes for a desired metabolic pathway. However, given the complete genome sequencing of a wide variety of organisms and the high level of skill in the area of genomics, those skilled in the art will readily be able to apply the teachings and guidance provided herein to essentially all other organisms. For example, the E. coli metabolic alterations exemplified herein can readily be applied to other species by incorporating the same or analogous encoding nucleic acid from species other than the referenced species. Such genetic alterations include, for example, genetic alterations of species homologs, in general, and in particular, orthologs, paralogs or nonorthologous gene displacements.

An ortholog is a gene or genes that are related by vertical descent and are responsible for substantially the same or identical functions in different organisms. For example, mouse epoxide hydrolase and human epoxide hydrolase can be considered orthologs for the biological function of hydrolysis of epoxides. Genes are related by vertical descent when, for example, they share sequence similarity of sufficient amount to indicate they are homologous, or related by evolution from a common ancestor. Genes can also be considered orthologs if they share three-dimensional structure but not necessarily sequence similarity, of a sufficient amount to indicate that they have evolved from a common ancestor to the extent that the primary sequence similarity is not identifiable. Genes that are orthologous can encode proteins with sequence similarity of about 25% to 100% amino acid sequence identity. Genes encoding proteins sharing an amino acid similarity less that 25% can also be considered to have arisen by vertical descent if their three-dimensional structure also shows similarities. Members of the serine protease family of enzymes, including tissue plasminogen activator and elastase, are considered to have arisen by vertical descent from a common ancestor.

Orthologs include genes or their encoded gene products that through, for example, evolution, have diverged in structure or overall activity. For example, where one species encodes a gene product exhibiting two functions and where such functions have been separated into distinct genes in a second species, the three genes and their corresponding products are considered to be orthologs. For the production of a biochemical product, those skilled in the art will understand that the orthologous gene harboring the metabolic activity to be introduced or disrupted is to be chosen for construction of the non-naturally occurring microorganism. An example of orthologs exhibiting separable activities is where distinct activities have been separated into distinct gene products between two or more species or within a single species. A specific example is the separation of elastase proteolysis and plasminogen proteolysis, two types of serine protease activity, into distinct molecules as plasminogen activator and elastase. A second example is the separation of mycoplasma 5′-3′ exonuclease and Drosophila DNA polymerase III activity. The DNA polymerase from the first species can be considered an ortholog to either or both of the exonuclease or the polymerase from the second species and vice versa.

In contrast, paralogs are homologs related by, for example, duplication followed by evolutionary divergence and have similar or common, but not identical functions. Paralogs can originate or derive from, for example, the same species or from a different species. For example, microsomal epoxide hydrolase (epoxide hydrolase I) and soluble epoxide hydrolase (epoxide hydrolase II) can be considered paralogs because they represent two distinct enzymes, co-evolved from a common ancestor, that catalyze distinct reactions and have distinct functions in the same species. Paralogs are proteins from the same species with significant sequence similarity to each other suggesting that they are homologous, or related through co-evolution from a common ancestor. Groups of paralogous protein families include HipA homologs, luciferase genes, peptidases, and others.

A nonorthologous gene displacement is a nonorthologous gene from one species that can substitute for a referenced gene function in a different species. Substitution includes, for example, being able to perform substantially the same or a similar function in the species of origin compared to the referenced function in the different species. Although generally, a nonorthologous gene displacement will be identifiable as structurally related to a known gene encoding the referenced function, less structurally related but functionally similar genes and their corresponding gene products nevertheless will still fall within the meaning of the term as it is used herein. Functional similarity requires, for example, at least some structural similarity in the active site or binding region of a nonorthologous gene product compared to a gene encoding the function sought to be substituted. Therefore, a nonorthologous gene includes, for example, a paralog or an unrelated gene.

Therefore, in identifying and constructing the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms of the invention having propylene biosynthetic capability, those skilled in the art will understand with applying the teaching and guidance provided herein to a particular species that the identification of metabolic modifications can include identification and inclusion or inactivation of orthologs. To the extent that paralogs and/or nonorthologous gene displacements are present in the referenced microorganism that encode an enzyme catalyzing a similar or substantially similar metabolic reaction, those skilled in the art also can utilize these evolutionally related genes.

Orthologs, paralogs and nonorthologous gene displacements can be determined by methods well known to those skilled in the art. For example, inspection of nucleic acid or amino acid sequences for two polypeptides will reveal sequence identity and similarities between the compared sequences. Based on such similarities, one skilled in the art can determine if the similarity is sufficiently high to indicate the proteins are related through evolution from a common ancestor. Algorithms well known to those skilled in the art, such as Align, BLAST, Clustal W and others compare and determine a raw sequence similarity or identity, and also determine the presence or significance of gaps in the sequence which can be assigned a weight or score. Such algorithms also are known in the art and are similarly applicable for determining nucleotide sequence similarity or identity. Parameters for sufficient similarity to determine relatedness are computed based on well known methods for calculating statistical similarity, or the chance of finding a similar match in a random polypeptide, and the significance of the match determined. A computer comparison of two or more sequences can, if desired, also be optimized visually by those skilled in the art. Related gene products or proteins can be expected to have a high similarity, for example, 25% to 100% sequence identity. Proteins that are unrelated can have an identity which is essentially the same as would be expected to occur by chance, if a database of sufficient size is scanned (about 5%). Sequences between 5% and 24% may or may not represent sufficient homology to conclude that the compared sequences are related. Additional statistical analysis to determine the significance of such matches given the size of the data set can be carried out to determine the relevance of these sequences.

Exemplary parameters for determining relatedness of two or more sequences using the BLAST algorithm, for example, can be as set forth below. Briefly, amino acid sequence alignments can be performed using BLASTP version 2.0.8 (Jan-05-1999) and the following parameters: Matrix: 0 BLOSUM62; gap open: 11; gap extension: 1; x_dropoff: 50; expect: 10.0; wordsize: 3; filter: on. Nucleic acid sequence alignments can be performed using BLASTN version 2.0.6 (Sept-16-1998) and the following parameters: Match: 1; mismatch: −2; gap open: 5; gap extension: 2; x_dropoff: 50; expect: 10.0; wordsize: 11; filter: off. Those skilled in the art will know what modifications can be made to the above parameters to either increase or decrease the stringency of the comparison, for example, and determine the relatedness of two or more sequences.

In some embodiments, the invention provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, including a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase or a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 2, steps 1-2). In one aspect, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding propylene pathway enzymes expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 2, steps 1 and 2).

In some embodiments, the invention provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, including a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase or a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 3, steps A-F). In one aspect, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding propylene pathway enzymes expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 3, steps A, B, C and F). In one aspect, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding propylene pathway enzymes expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 3, steps A, D, E and F).

In some embodiments, the invention provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, including a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a leucine aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; a 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate dehydrogenase; an isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase; a 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase; a 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydrolase, transferase or synthetase; a 3-methylglutaconate hydratase; a 3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase; a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA dehydratase; or a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase (see FIG. 4, steps A-I). In one aspect, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding propylene pathway enzymes expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a leucine aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; a 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate dehydrogenase; a isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase; a 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase; a 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydrolase, transferase or synthetase; a 3-methylglutaconate hydratase; a 3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 4, steps A-G and FIG. 2, step 2). In one aspect, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding propylene pathway enzymes expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydrolase, transferase or synthetase; a 3-methylglutaconate hydratase; a 3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase; a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA dehydratase; a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 4, steps I, H, E-G and FIG. 2, step 2). Sources of encoding nucleic acids for a propylene pathway enzyme or protein described above are well known in the art and can be obtained from a variety of species including, but limited to, those exemplified herein.

In some embodiments, the invention provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, including a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a lysine 6-aminotransferase, a 6-dehydrogenase (deaminating) or 6-oxidase; an 2-aminoadipate dehydrogenase; an 2-aminoadipate mutase; a 4-methyl-2-aminoglutarate aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; a 2-aminoadipate aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; or a 2-oxoadipate mutase (see FIG. 5, steps A-F). In one aspect, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding propylene pathway enzymes expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a lysine 6-aminotransferase, 6-dehydrogenase (deaminating) or 6-oxidase; an 2-aminoadipate dehydrogenase, an 2-aminoadipate mutase; a 4-methyl-2-aminoglutarate aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 5, steps A-D, FIG. 3, step F). In one aspect, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding propylene pathway enzymes expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a lysine 6-aminotransferase, 6-dehydrogenase (deaminating) or 6-oxidase; a 2-aminoadipate dehydrogenase; an 2-aminoadipate aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; an 2-oxoadipate mutase; and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 5, steps A, B, E and F, FIG. 3, step F). Sources of encoding nucleic acids for a propylene pathway enzyme or protein described above are well known in the art and can be obtained from a variety of species including, but limited to, those exemplified herein.

In an additional embodiment, the invention provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism having a propylene pathway, wherein the non-naturally occurring microbial organism comprises at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme or protein that converts a substrate to a product selected from the group consisting of 2-ketoglutarate to 3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, 3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate to propylene, pyruvate to 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate to 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate, 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate to 4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate to 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate, 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate to 4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate or 4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate to propylene. One skilled in the art will understand that these are merely exemplary and that any of the substrate-product pairs disclosed herein suitable to produce a desired product and for which an appropriate activity is available for the conversion of the substrate to the product can be readily determined by one skilled in the art based on the teachings herein. Thus, the invention provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism containing at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme or protein, where the enzyme or protein converts the substrates and products of a propylene pathway, such as that shown in FIGS. 2-5.

While generally described herein as a microbial organism that contains a propylene pathway, it is understood that the invention additionally provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce an intermediate of a propylene pathway. For example, as disclosed herein, a propylene pathway is exemplified in FIGS. 2-5. Therefore, in addition to a microbial organism containing a propylene pathway that produces propylene, the invention additionally provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme, where the microbial organism produces a propylene pathway intermediate, for example, 3-methyle-ketoglutarate, 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate, 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate, or 4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate.

It is understood that any of the pathways disclosed herein, as described in the Examples and exemplified in the Figures, including the pathways of FIGS. 2-5, can be utilized to generate a non-naturally occurring microbial organism that produces any pathway intermediate or product, as desired. As disclosed herein, such a microbial organism that produces an intermediate can be used in combination with another microbial organism expressing downstream pathway enzymes to produce a desired product. However, it is understood that a non-naturally occurring microbial organism that produces a propylene pathway intermediate can be utilized to produce the intermediate as a desired product.

This invention is also directed, in part to engineered biosynthetic pathways to improve carbon flux through a central metabolism intermediate en route to propylene. The present invention provides non-naturally occurring microbial organisms having one or more exogenous genes encoding enzymes that can catalyze various enzymatic transformations en route to propylene. In some embodiments, these enzymatic transformations are part of the reductive tricarboxylic acid (RTCA) cycle and are used to improve product yields, including but not limited to, from carbohydrate-based carbon feedstock.

In numerous engineered pathways, realization of maximum product yields based on carbohydrate feedstock is hampered by insufficient reducing equivalents or by loss of reducing equivalents and/or carbon to byproducts. In accordance with some embodiments, the present invention increases the yields of propylene by (i) enhancing carbon fixation via the reductive TCA cycle, and/or (ii) accessing additional reducing equivalents from gaseous carbon sources and/or syngas components such as CO, CO₂, and/or H₂. In addition to syngas, other sources of such gases include, but are not limted to, the atmosphere, either as found in nature or generated.

The CO₂-fixing reductive tricarboxylic acid (RTCA) cycle is an endergenic anabolic pathway of CO₂ assimilation which uses reducing equivalents and ATP (FIG. 6). One turn of the RTCA cycle assimilates two moles of CO₂ into one mole of acetyl-CoA, or four moles of CO₂ into one mole of oxaloacetate. This additional availability of acetyl-CoA improves the maximum theoretical yield of product molecules derived from carbohydrate-based carbon feedstock. Exemplary carbohydrates include but are not limited to glucose, sucrose, xylose, arabinose and glycerol.

In some embodiments, the reductive TCA cycle, coupled with carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and/or hydrogenase enzymes, can be employed to allow syngas, CO₂, CO, H₂, and/or other gaseous carbon source utilization by microorganisms. Synthesis gas (syngas), in particular is a mixture of primarily H₂ and CO, sometimes including some amounts of CO₂, that can be obtained via gasification of any organic feedstock, such as coal, coal oil, natural gas, biomass, or waste organic matter. Numerous gasification processes have been developed, and most designs are based on partial oxidation, where limiting oxygen avoids full combustion, of organic materials at high temperatures (500-1500° C.) to provide syngas as a 0.5:1-3:1 H₂/CO mixture. In addition to coal, biomass of many types has been used for syngas production and represents an inexpensive and flexible feedstock for the biological production of renewable chemicals and fuels. Carbon dioxide can be provided from the atmosphere or in condensed from, for example, from a tank cylinder, or via sublimation of solid CO₂. Similarly, CO and hydrogen gas can be provided in reagent form and/or mixed in any desired ratio. Other gaseous carbon forms can include, for example, methanol or similar volatile organic solvents.

The components of synthesis gas and/or other carbon sources can provide sufficient CO₂, reducing equivalents, and ATP for the reductive TCA cycle to operate. One turn of the RTCA cycle assimilates two moles of CO₂ into one mole of acetyl-CoA and requires 2 ATP and 4 reducing equivalents. CO and/or H₂ can provide reducing equivalents by means of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and hydrogenase enzymes, respectively. Reducing equivalents can come in the form of NADH, NADPH, FADH, reduced quinones, reduced ferredoxins, and reduced flavodoxins. The reducing equivalents, particularly NADH, NADPH, reduced ferredoxin and thioredoxins, can serve as cofactors for the RTCA cycle enzymes, for example, malate dehydrogenase, fumarate reductase, alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (alternatively known as 2-oxoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, alpha-ketoglutarate synthase, or 2-oxoglutarate synthase), pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase and isocitrate dehydrogenase. The electrons from these reducing equivalents can alternatively pass through an ion-gradient producing electron transport chain where they are passed to an acceptor such as oxygen, nitrate, oxidized metal ions, protons, or an electrode. The ion-gradient can then be used for ATP generation via an ATP synthase or similar enzyme.

The reductive TCA cycle was first reported in the green sulfur photosynthetic bacterium Chlorobium limicola (Evans et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 55:928-934 (1966)). Similar pathways have been characterized in some prokaryotes (proteobacteria, green sulfur bacteria and thermophillic Knallgas bacteria) and sulfur-dependent archaea (Hugler et al., J. Bacteriol. 187:3020-3027 (2005; Hugler et al., Environ. Microbiol. 9:81-92 (2007). In some cases, reductive and oxidative (Krebs) TCA cycles are present in the same organism (Hugler et al., supra (2007); Siebers et al., J. Bacteriol. 186:2179-2194 (2004)). Some methanogens and obligate anaerobes possess incomplete oxidative or reductive TCA cycles that may function to synthesize biosynthetic intermediates (Ekiel et al., J. Bacteriol. 162:905-908 (1985); Wood et al., FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 28:335-352 (2004)).

The key carbon-fixing enzymes of the reductive TCA cycle are alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase and isocitrate dehydrogenase. Additional carbon may be fixed during the conversion of phosphoenolpyruvate to oxaloacetate by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase or phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase or by conversion of pyruvate to malate by malic enzyme.

Many of the enzymes in the TCA cycle are reversible and can catalyze reactions in the reductive and oxidative directions. However, some TCA cycle reactions are irreversible in vivo and thus different enzymes are used to catalyze these reactions in the directions required for the reverse TCA cycle. These reactions are: (1) conversion of citrate to oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA, (2) conversion of fumarate to succinate, and (3) conversion of succinyl-CoA to alpha-ketoglutarate. In the TCA cycle, citrate is formed from the condensation of oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA. The reverse reaction, cleavage of citrate to oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA, is ATP-dependent and catalyzed by ATP-citrate lyase, or citryl-CoA synthetase and citryl-CoA lyase. Alternatively, citrate lyase can be coupled to acetyl-CoA synthetase, an acetyl-CoA transferase, or phosphotransacetylase and acetate kinase to form acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate from citrate. The conversion of succinate to fumarate is catalyzed by succinate dehydrogenase while the reverse reaction is catalyzed by fumarate reductase. In the TCA cycle succinyl-CoA is formed from the NAD(P)⁺ dependent decarboxylation of alpha-ketoglutarate by the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex. The reverse reaction is catalyzed by alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase.

An organism capable of utilizing the reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle to enable production of acetyl-CoA-derived products on 1) CO, 2) CO₂ and H₂, 3) CO and CO₂, 4) synthesis gas comprising CO and H₂, and 5) synthesis gas or other gaseous carbon sources comprising CO, CO₂, and H₂ can include any of the following enzyme activities: ATP-citrate lyase, citrate lyase, aconitase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, succinyl-CoA synthetase, succinyl-CoA transferase, fumarate reductase, fumarase, malate dehydrogenase, acetate kinase, phosphotransacetylase, acetyl-CoA synthetase, acetyl-CoA transferase, pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, hydrogenase, and ferredoxin (see FIG. 7). Enzyme enzymes and the corresponding genes required for these activities are described herein.

Carbon from syngas or other gaseous carbon sources can be fixed via the reverse TCA cycle and components thereof. Specifically, the combination of certain carbon gas-utilization pathway components with the pathways for formation of propylene from acetyl-CoA results in high yields of these products by providing an efficient mechanism for fixing the carbon present in carbon dioxide, fed exogenously or produced endogenously from CO, into acetyl-CoA.

In some embodiments, a propylene pathway in a non-naturally occurring microbial organism of the invention can utilize any combination of (1) CO, (2) CO₂, (3) H₂, or mixtures thereof to enhance the yields of biosynthetic steps involving reduction, including addition to driving the reductive TCA cycle.

In some embodiments a non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway includes at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme. The at least one exogenous nucleic acid is selected from an ATP-citrate lyase, citrate lyase, a fumarate reductase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, aconitase, and an alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase; and at least one exogenous enzyme selected from a carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, a hydrogenase, a NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, and a ferredoxin, expressed in a sufficient amount to allow the utilization of (1) CO, (2) CO₂, (3) H₂, (4) CO₂ and H₂, (5) CO and CO₂, (6) CO and H₂, or (7) CO, CO₂, and H₂.

In some embodiments a method includes culturing a non-naturally occurring microbial organism having a propylene pathway also comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme. The at least one exogenous nucleic acid is selected from an ATP-citrate lyase, citrate lyase, a fumarate reductase, and an alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase. Additionally, such an organism can also include at least one exogenous enzyme selected from a carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, a hydrogenase, a NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, and a ferredoxin, expressed in a sufficient amount to allow the utilization of (1) CO, (2) CO₂, (3) H₂, (4) CO₂ and H₂, (5) CO and CO₂, (6) CO and H₂, or (7) CO, CO₂, and H₂ to produce a product.

In some embodiments a non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway further includes at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to enhance carbon flux through acetyl-CoA. The at least one exogenous nucleic acid is selected from an ATP-citrate lyase, citrate lyase, a fumarate reductase, a pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, aconitase, and an alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase.

In some embodiments a non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway includes at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to enhance the availability of reducing equivalents in the presence of carbon monoxide and/or hydrogen, thereby increasing the yield of redox-limited products via carbohydrate-based carbon feedstock. The at least one exogenous nucleic acid is selected from a carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, a hydrogenase, an NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, and a ferredoxin. In some embodiments, the present invention provides a method for enhancing the availability of reducing equivalents in the presence of carbon monoxide or hydrogen thereby increasing the yield of redox-limited products via carbohydrate-based carbon feedstock, such as sugars or gaseous carbon sources, the method includes culturing this non-naturally occurring microbial organism under conditions and for a sufficient period of time to produce propylene.

In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway includes two exogenous nucleic acids, each encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme. In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway includes three exogenous nucleic acids each encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme. In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes three exogenous nucleic acids encoding an ATP-citrate lyase, a fumarate reductase, and an alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase. In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes three exogenous nucleic acids encoding a citrate lyase, a fumarate reductase, and an alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase. In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes four exogenous nucleic acids encoding a pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase; a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase or a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, a CO dehydrogenase; and an H₂ hydrogenase. In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism includes two exogenous nucleic acids encoding a CO dehydrogenase and an H₂ hydrogenase.

In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms having an propylene pathway further include an exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme selected from a pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, an aconitase, an isocitrate dehydrogenase, a succinyl-CoA synthetase, a succinyl-CoA transferase, a fumarase, a malate dehydrogenase, an acetate kinase, a phosphotransacetylase, an acetyl-CoA synthetase, an NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, and combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway further includes an exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme selected from carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, acetyl-CoA synthase, ferredoxin, NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductase and combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway utilizes a carbon feedstock selected from (1) CO, (2) CO₂, (3) CO₂ and H₂, (4) CO and H₂, or (5) CO, CO₂, and H₂. In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway utilizes hydrogen for reducing equivalents. In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway utilizes CO for reducing equivalents. In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway utilizes combinations of CO and hydrogen for reducing equivalents.

In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway further includes one or more nucleic acids encoding an enzyme selected from a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, a pyruvate carboxylase, and a malic enzyme.

In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway further includes one or more nucleic acids encoding an enzyme selected from a malate dehydrogenase, a fumarase, a fumarate reductase, a succinyl-CoA synthetase, and a succinyl-CoA transferase.

In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organism having an propylene pathway further includes at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a citrate lyase, an ATP-citrate lyase, a citryl-CoA synthetase, a citryl-CoA lyase, an aconitase, an isocitrate dehydrogenase, a succinyl-CoA synthetase, a succinyl-CoA transferase, a fumarase, a malate dehydrogenase, an acetate kinase, a phosphotransacetylase, an acetyl-CoA synthetase, and a ferredoxin.

It is understood by those skilled in the art that the above-described pathways for increasing product yield can be combined with any of the pathways disclosed herein, including those pathways depicted in the figures. One skilled in the art will understand that, depending on the pathway to a desired product and the precursors and intermediates of that pathway, a particular pathway for improving product yield, as discussed herein above and in the examples, or combination of such pathways, can be used in combination with a pathway to a desired product to increase the yield of that product or a pathway intermediate.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, comprising a microbial organism having a propylene pathway. The propylene pathway can be any of the propylene pathways disclosed herein, including the figures. In a particular embodiment, the microbial organism comprises at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene; the non-naturally occurring microbial organism further comprising: (i) a reductive TCA pathway comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme, wherein the at least one exogenous nucleic acid is selected from an ATP-citrate lyase, citrate lyase, a citryl-CoA synthetase, a citryl-CoA lyase, a fumarate reductase, and an alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase; (ii) a reductive TCA pathway comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme, wherein the at least one exogenous nucleic acid is selected from a pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, a CO dehydrogenase, and an H2 hydrogenase; or (iii) at least one exogenous nucleic acid encodes an enzyme selected from a CO dehydrogenase, an H2 hydrogenase, and combinations thereof. The propylene pathway can be selected from (a) a propylene forming enzyme and a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase; and (b) a propylene forming enzyme, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, and a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase.

In another embodiment, a microbial organism comprising (i) can further comprise an exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme selected from a pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, an aconitase, an isocitrate dehydrogenase, a succinyl-CoA synthetase, a succinyl-CoA transferase, a fumarase, a malate dehydrogenase, an acetate kinase, a phosphotransacetylase, an acetyl-CoA synthetase, an NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, ferredoxin, and combinations thereof. In yet another embodiment, a microbial organism comprising (ii) can further comprise an exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme selected from an aconitase, an isocitrate dehydrogenase, a succinyl-CoA synthetase, a succinyl-CoA transferase, a fumarase, a malate dehydrogenase, and combinations thereof. In a particular embodiment the microbial organism can comprise (a) two exogenous nucleic acids encoding a propylene forming enzyme and a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase; or (b) four exogenous nucleic acids encoding a propylene forming enzyme, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, and a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase. The invention additionally provides methods of producing propylene using such propylene producing organisms.

In some embodiments, the carbon feedstock and other cellular uptake sources such as phosphate, ammonia, sulfate, chloride and other halogens can be chosen to alter the isotopic distribution of the atoms present in propylene or any propylene pathway intermediate. The various carbon feedstock and other uptake sources enumerated above will be referred to herein, collectively, as “uptake sources.” Uptake sources can provide isotopic enrichment for any atom present in the product propylene or propylene pathway intermediate including any propylene impurities generated in diverging away from the pathway at any point. Isotopic enrichment can be achieved for any target atom including, for example, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, chloride or other halogens.

In some embodiments, the uptake sources can be selected to alter the carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14 ratios. In some embodiments, the uptake sources can be selected to alter the oxygen-16, oxygen-17, and oxygen-18 ratios. In some embodiments, the uptake sources can be selected to alter the hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium ratios. In some embodiments, the uptake sources can be selected to alter the nitrogen-14 and nitrogen-15 ratios. In some embodiments, the uptake sources can be selected to alter the sulfur-32, sulfur-33, sulfur-34, and sulfur-35 ratios. In some embodiments, the uptake sources can be selected to alter the phosphorus-31, phosphorus-32, and phosphorus-33 ratios. In some embodiments, the uptake sources can be selected to alter the chlorine-35, chlorine-36, and chlorine-37 ratios.

In some embodiments, the isotopic ratio of a target atom can be varied to a desired ratio by selecting one or more uptake sources. An uptake source can be derived from a natural source, as found in nature, or from a man-made source, and one skilled in the art can select a natural source, a man-made source, or a combination thereof, to achieve a desired isotopic ratio of a target atom. An example of a man-made uptake source includes, for example, an uptake source that is at least partially derived from a chemical synthetic reaction. Such isotopically enriched uptake sources can be purchased commercially or prepared in the laboratory and/or optionally mixed with a natural source of the uptake source to achieve a desired isotopic ratio. In some embodiments, a target atom isotopic ratio of an uptake source can be achieved by selecting a desired origin of the uptake source as found in nature. For example, as discussed herein, a natural source can be a biobased derived from or synthesized by a biological organism or a source such as petroleum-based products or the atmosphere. In some such embodiments, a source of carbon, for example, can be selected from a fossil fuel-derived carbon source, which can be relatively depleted of carbon-14, or an environmental or atmospheric carbon source, such as CO₂, which can possess a larger amount of carbon-14 than its petroleum-derived counterpart.

The unstable carbon isotope carbon-14 or radiocarbon makes up for roughly 1 in 10¹² carbon atoms in the earth's atmosphere and has a half-life of about 5700 years. The stock of carbon is replenished in the upper atmosphere by a nuclear reaction involving cosmic rays and ordinary nitrogen (¹⁴N). Fossil fuels contain no carbon-14, as it decayed long ago. Burning of fossil fuels lowers the atmospheric carbon-14 fraction, the so-called “Suess effect”.

Methods of determining the isotopic ratios of atoms in a compound are well known to those skilled in the art. Isotopic enrichment is readily assessed by mass spectrometry using techniques known in the art such as accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS), Stable Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (SIRMS) and Site-Specific Natural Isotopic Fractionation by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SNIF-NMR). Such mass spectral techniques can be integrated with separation techniques such as liquid chromatography (LC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and/or gas chromatography, and the like.

In the case of carbon, ASTM D6866 was developed in the United States as a standardized analytical method for determining the biobased content of solid, liquid, and gaseous samples using radiocarbon dating by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International. The standard is based on the use of radiocarbon dating for the determination of a product's biobased content. ASTM D6866 was first published in 2004, and the current active version of the standard is ASTM D6866-11 (effective Apr. 1, 2011). Radiocarbon dating techniques are well known to those skilled in the art, including those described herein.

The biobased content of a compound is estimated by the ratio of carbon-14 (¹⁴C) to carbon-12 (¹²C). Specifically, the Fraction Modern (Fm) is computed from the expression: Fm=(S−B)/(M−B), where B, S and M represent the ¹⁴C/¹²C ratios of the blank, the sample and the modern reference, respectively. Fraction Modern is a measurement of the deviation of the ¹⁴C/¹²C ratio of a sample from “Modern.” Modern is defined as 95% of the radiocarbon concentration (in AD 1950) of National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Oxalic Acid I (i.e., standard reference materials (SRM) 4990b) normalized to δ¹³C_(VPDB)=−19 per mil (Olsson, The use of Oxalic acid as a Standard. in, Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology, Nobel Symposium, 12th Proc., John Wiley & Sons, New York (1970)). Mass spectrometry results, for example, measured by ASM, are calculated using the internationally agreed upon definition of 0.95 times the specific activity of NBS Oxalic Acid I (SRM 4990b) normalized to δ¹³C_(VPDB)=−19 per mil. This is equivalent to an absolute (AD 1950) ¹⁴C/¹²C ratio of 1.176±0.010×10⁻¹² (Karlen et al., Arkiv Geoftsik, 4:465-471 (1968)). The standard calculations take into account the differential uptake of one istope with respect to another, for example, the preferential uptake in biological systems of C¹² over C¹³ over C¹⁴, and these corrections are reflected as a Fm corrected for δ¹³.

An oxalic acid standard (SRM 4990b or HOx 1) was made from a crop of 1955 sugar beet. Although there were 1000 lbs made, this oxalic acid standard is no longer commercially available. The Oxalic Acid II standard (HOx 2; N.I.S.T designation SRM 4990 C) was made from a crop of 1977 French beet molasses. In the early 1980's, a group of 12 laboratories measured the ratios of the two standards. The ratio of the activity of Oxalic acid II to 1 is 1.2933±0.001 (the weighted mean). The isotopic ratio of HOx II is −17.8 per mille. ASTM D6866-11 suggests use of the available Oxalic Acid II standard SRM 4990 C (Hox2) for the modern standard (see discussion of original vs. currently available oxalic acid standards in Mann, Radiocarbon, 25(2):519-527 (1983)). A Fm=0% represents the entire lack of carbon-14 atoms in a material, thus indicating a fossil (for example, petroleum based) carbon source. A Fm=100%, after correction for the post-1950 injection of carbon-14 into the atmosphere from nuclear bomb testing, indicates an entirely modern carbon source. As described herein, such a “modern” source includes biobased sources.

As described in ASTM D6866, the percent modern carbon (pMC) can be greater than 100% because of the continuing but diminishing effects of the 1950s nuclear testing programs, which resulted in a considerable enrichment of carbon-14 in the atmosphere as described in ASTM D6866-11. Because all sample carbon-14 activities are referenced to a “pre-bomb” standard, and because nearly all new biobased products are produced in a post-bomb environment, all pMC values (after correction for isotopic fraction) must be multiplied by 0.95 (as of 2010) to better reflect the true biobased content of the sample. A biobased content that is greater than 103% suggests that either an analytical error has occurred, or that the source of biobased carbon is more than several years old.

ASTM D6866 quantifies the biobased content relative to the material's total organic content and does not consider the inorganic carbon and other non-carbon containing substances present. For example, a product that is 50% starch-based material and 50% water would be considered to have a Biobased Content=100% (50% organic content that is 100% biobased) based on ASTM D6866. In another example, a product that is 50% starch-based material, 25% petroleum-based, and 25% water would have a Biobased Content=66.7% (75% organic content but only 50% of the product is biobased). In another example, a product that is 50% organic carbon and is a petroleum-based product would be considered to have a Biobased Content=0% (50% organic carbon but from fossil sources). Thus, based on the well known methods and known standards for determining the biobased content of a compound or material, one skilled in the art can readily determine the biobased content and/or prepared downstream products that utilize of the invention having a desired biobased content.

Applications of carbon-14 dating techniques to quantify bio-based content of materials are known in the art (Currie et al., Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 172:281-287 (2000)). For example, carbon-14 dating has been used to quantify bio-based content in terephthalate-containing materials (Colonna et al., Green Chemistry, 13:2543-2548 (2011)). Notably, polypropylene terephthalate (PPT) polymers derived from renewable 1,3-propanediol and petroleum-derived terephthalic acid resulted in Fm values near 30% (i.e., since 3/11 of the polymeric carbon derives from renewable 1,3-propanediol and 8/11 from the fossil end member terephthalic acid) (Currie et al., supra, 2000). In contrast, polybutylene terephthalate polymer derived from both renewable 1,4-butanediol and renewable terephthalic acid resulted in bio-based content exceeding 90% (Colonna et al., supra, 2011).

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the present invention provides propylene or a propylene intermediate that has a carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14 ratio that reflects an atmospheric carbon, also referred to as environmental carbon, uptake source. For example, in some aspects the propylene or a propylene intermediate can have an Fm value of at least 10%, at least 15%, at least 20%, at least 25%, at least 30%, at least 35%, at least 40%, at least 45%, at least 50%, at least 55%, at least 60%, at least 65%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 98% or as much as 100%. In some such embodiments, the uptake source is CO₂. In some embodiments, the present invention provides propylene or a propylene intermediate that has a carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14 ratio that reflects petroleum-based carbon uptake source. In this aspect, the propylene or a propylene intermediate can have an Fm value of less than 95%, less than 90%, less than 85%, less than 80%, less than 75%, less than 70%, less than 65%, less than 60%, less than 55%, less than 50%, less than 45%, less than 40%, less than 35%, less than 30%, less than 25%, less than 20%, less than 15%, less than 10%, less than 5%, less than 2% or less than 1%. In some embodiments, the present invention provides propylene or a propylene intermediate that has a carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14 ratio that is obtained by a combination of an atmospheric carbon uptake source with a petroleum-based uptake source. Using such a combination of uptake sources is one way by which the carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14 ratio can be varied, and the respective ratios would reflect the proportions of the uptake sources.

Further, the present invention relates to the biologically produced propylene or propylene intermediate as disclosed herein, and to the products derived therefrom, wherein the propylene or a propylene intermediate has a carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14 isotope ratio of about the same value as the CO₂ that occurs in the environment. For example, in some aspects the invention provides bioderived propylene or a bioderived propylene intermediate having a carbon-12 versus carbon-13 versus carbon-14 isotope ratio of about the same value as the CO₂ that occurs in the environment, or any of the other ratios disclosed herein. It is understood, as disclosed herein, that a product can have a carbon-12 versus carbon-13 versus carbon-14 isotope ratio of about the same value as the CO₂ that occurs in the environment, or any of the ratios disclosed herein, wherein the product is generated from bioderived propylene or a bioderived propylene intermediate as disclosed herein, wherein the bioderived product is chemically modified to generate a final product. Methods of chemically modifying a bioderived product of propylene, or an intermediate thereof, to generate a desired product are well known to those skilled in the art, as described herein. The invention further provides polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol, cumene, plastic, fiber, synthetic rubber, aerosol propellant or aerosol component having a carbon-12 versus carbon-13 versus carbon-14 isotope ratio of about the same value as the CO₂ that occurs in the environment, wherein the polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol, cumene, plastic, fiber, synthetic rubber, aerosol propellant or aerosol component are generated directly from or in combination with bioderived propylene or a bioderived propylene intermediate as disclosed herein.

Propylene is a chemical used in commercial and industrial applications. Non-limiting examples of such applications include production of polymers, polymer intermediates and chemicals. Moreover, propylene is also used in the production of a wide range of products including polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol and cumene. The propylene derivative, polypropylene, is also used in the production of plastics, such as injection moulding, fibers, such as carpets, synthetic rubber and as a propellant or component in aerosols. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the invention provides biobased polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol, cumene, plastic, fiber, synthetic rubber, aerosol propellant or aerosol component comprising one or more bioderived propylene or bioderived propylene intermediate produced by a non-naturally occurring microorganism of the invention or produced using a method disclosed herein.

As used herein, the term “bioderived” means derived from or synthesized by a biological organism and can be considered a renewable resource since it can be generated by a biological organism. Such a biological organism, in particular the microbial organisms of the invention disclosed herein, can utilize feedstock or biomass, such as, sugars or carbohydrates obtained from an agricultural, plant, bacterial, or animal source. Alternatively, the biological organism can utilize atmospheric carbon. As used herein, the term “biobased” means a product as described above that is composed, in whole or in part, of a bioderived compound of the invention. A biobased or bioderived product is in contrast to a petroleum derived product, wherein such a product is derived from or synthesized from petroleum or a petrochemical feedstock.

In some embodiments, the invention provides polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol, cumene, plastic, fiber, synthetic rubber, aerosol propellant or aerosol component comprising bioderived propylene or bioderived propylene intermediate, wherein the bioderived propylene or bioderived propylene intermediate includes all or part of the propylene or propylene intermediate used in the production of polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol, cumene, plastic, fiber, synthetic rubber, aerosol propellant or aerosol component. Thus, in some aspects, the invention provides a biobased polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol, cumene, plastic, fiber, synthetic rubber, aerosol propellant or aerosol component comprising at least 2%, at least 3%, at least 5%, at least 10%, at least 15%, at least 20%, at least 25%, at least 30%, at least 35%, at least 40%, at least 50%, at least 60%, at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 98% or 100% bioderived propylene or bioderived propylene intermediate as disclosed herein. Additionally, in some aspects, the invention provides a biobased polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol, cumene, plastic, fiber, synthetic rubber, aerosol propellant or aerosol component wherein the propylene or propylene intermediate used in its production is a combination of bioderived and petroleum derived propylene or propylene intermediate. For example, a biobased polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol, cumene, plastic, fiber, synthetic rubber, aerosol propellant or aerosol component can be produced using 50% bioderived propylene and 50% petroleum derived propylene or other desired ratios such as 60%/40%, 70%/30%, 80%/20%, 90%/10%, 95%/5%, 100%/0%, 40%/60%, 30%/70%, 20%/80%, 10%/90% of bioderived/petroleum derived precursors, so long as at least a portion of the product comprises a bioderived product produced by the microbial organisms disclosed herein. It is understood that methods for producing polypropylene, acrylic acid, butanol, butanediol, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol, cumene, plastic, fiber, synthetic rubber, aerosol propellant or aerosol component using the bioderived propylene or bioderived propylene intermediate of the invention are well known in the art.

The invention is described herein with general reference to the metabolic reaction, reactant or product thereof, or with specific reference to one or more nucleic acids or genes encoding an enzyme associated with or catalyzing, or a protein associated with, the referenced metabolic reaction, reactant or product. Unless otherwise expressly stated herein, those skilled in the art will understand that reference to a reaction also constitutes reference to the reactants and products of the reaction. Similarly, unless otherwise expressly stated herein, reference to a reactant or product also references the reaction, and reference to any of these metabolic constituents also references the gene or genes encoding the enzymes that catalyze or proteins involved in the referenced reaction, reactant or product. Likewise, given the well known fields of metabolic biochemistry, enzymology and genomics, reference herein to a gene or encoding nucleic acid also constitutes a reference to the corresponding encoded enzyme and the reaction it catalyzes or a protein associated with the reaction as well as the reactants and products of the reaction.

As disclosed herein, the intermediates 3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate, 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate, 4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate, 3-methylglutaconate, 3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate, 2-aminoadipate semialdehyde, 2-aminoadipate, 2-oxoadipate, and 4-methyl-2-aminoglutarate, as well as other intermediates, are carboxylic acids, which can occur in various ionized forms, including fully protonated, partially protonated, and fully deprotonated forms. Accordingly, the suffix “-ate,” or the acid form, can be used interchangeably to describe both the free acid form as well as any deprotonated form, in particular since the ionized form is known to depend on the pH in which the compound is found. It is understood that carboxylate products or intermediates includes ester forms of carboxylate products or pathway intermediates, such as O-carboxylate and S-carboxylate esters. O- and S-carboxylates can include lower alkyl, that is C1 to C6, branched or straight chain carboxylates. Some such O- or S-carboxylates include, without limitation, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, n-butyl, i-propyl, sec-butyl, and tert-butyl, pentyl, hexyl O- or S-carboxylates, any of which can further possess an unsaturation, providing for example, propenyl, butenyl, pentyl, and hexenyl O- or S-carboxylates. O-carboxylates can be the product of a biosynthetic pathway. Exemplary O-carboxylates accessed via biosynthetic pathways can include, without limitation, methyl-3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, methyl-4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, methyl-4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate, methyl-4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate, methyl-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, methyl-4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate, methyl-3-methylglutaconate, methyl-3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate, methyl-2-aminoadipate semialdehyde, methyl-2-aminoadipate, methyl-2-oxoadipate, methyl-4-methyl-2-aminoglutarate, ethyl-3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, ethyl-4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, ethyl-4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate, ethyl-4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate, ethyl-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, ethyl-4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate, ethyl-3-methylglutaconate, ethyl-3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate, ethyl-2-aminoadipate semialdehyde, ethyl-2-aminoadipate, ethyl-2-oxoadipate, and ethyl-4-methyl-2-aminoglutarate, n-propyl-3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, n-propyl-4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, n-propyl-4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate, n-propyl-4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate, n-propyl-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, n-propyl-4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate, n-propyl-3-methylglutaconate, n-propyl-3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate, n-propyl-2-aminoadipate semialdehyde, n-propyl-2-aminoadipate, n-propyl-2-oxoadipate, and n-propyl-4-methyl-2-aminoglutarate. Other biosynthetically accessible O-carboxylates can include medium to long chain groups, that is C7-C22, O-carboxylate esters derived from fatty alcohols, such heptyl, octyl, nonyl, decyl, undecyl, lauryl, tridecyl, myristyl, pentadecyl, cetyl, palmitolyl, heptadecyl, stearyl, nonadecyl, arachidyl, heneicosyl, and behenyl alcohols, any one of which can be optionally branched and/or contain unsaturations. O-carboxylate esters can also be accessed via a biochemical or chemical process, such as esterification of a free carboxylic acid product or transesterification of an O- or S-carboxylate. S-carboxylates are exemplified by CoA S-esters, cysteinyl S-esters, alkylthioesters, and various aryl and heteroaryl thioesters.

The non-naturally occurring microbial organisms of the invention can be produced by introducing expressible nucleic acids encoding one or more of the enzymes or proteins participating in one or more propylene biosynthetic pathways. Depending on the host microbial organism chosen for biosynthesis, nucleic acids for some or all of a particular propylene biosynthetic pathway can be expressed. For example, if a chosen host is deficient in one or more enzymes or proteins for a desired biosynthetic pathway, then expressible nucleic acids for the deficient enzyme(s) or protein(s) are introduced into the host for subsequent exogenous expression. Alternatively, if the chosen host exhibits endogenous expression of some pathway genes, but is deficient in others, then an encoding nucleic acid is needed for the deficient enzyme(s) or protein(s) to achieve propylene biosynthesis. Thus, a non-naturally occurring microbial organism of the invention can be produced by introducing exogenous enzyme or protein activities to obtain a desired biosynthetic pathway or a desired biosynthetic pathway can be obtained by introducing one or more exogenous enzyme or protein activities that, together with one or more endogenous enzymes or proteins, produces a desired product such as propylene.

Host microbial organisms can be selected from, and the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms generated in, for example, bacteria, yeast, fungus or any of a variety of other microorganisms applicable to fermentation processes. Exemplary bacteria include species selected from Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens, Actinobacillus succinogenes, Mannheimia succiniciproducens, Rhizobium etli, Bacillus subtilis, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Gluconobacter oxydans, Zymomonas mobilis, Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus plantarum, Streptomyces coelicolor, Clostridium acetobutylicum, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Pseudomonas putida. Exemplary yeasts or fungi include species selected from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Kluyveromyces lactis, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus niger, Pichia pastoris, Rhizopus arrhizus, Rhizobus oryzae, Yarrowia lipolytica, and the like. E. coli is a particularly useful host organism since it is a well characterized microbial organism suitable for genetic engineering. Other particularly useful host organisms include yeast such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is understood that any suitable microbial host organism can be used to introduce metabolic and/or genetic modifications to produce a desired product.

Depending on the propylene biosynthetic pathway constituents of a selected host microbial organism, the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms of the invention will include at least one exogenously expressed propylene pathway-encoding nucleic acid and up to all encoding nucleic acids for one or more propylene biosynthetic pathways. For example, propylene biosynthesis can be established in a host deficient in a pathway enzyme or protein through exogenous expression of the corresponding encoding nucleic acid. In a host deficient in all enzymes or proteins of a propylene pathway, exogenous expression of all enzyme or proteins in the pathway can be included, although it is understood that all enzymes or proteins of a pathway can be expressed even if the host contains at least one of the pathway enzymes or proteins. For example, exogenous expression of all enzymes or proteins in a pathway for production of propylene can be included, such as a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase and a propylene forming enzyme, or alternatively, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase and a propylene forming enzyme, or alternatively a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase and a propylene forming enzyme.

Given the teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled in the art will understand that the number of encoding nucleic acids to introduce in an expressible form will, at least, parallel the propylene pathway deficiencies of the selected host microbial organism. Therefore, a non-naturally occurring microbial organism of the invention can have one, two, three, or four, up to all nucleic acids encoding the enzymes or proteins constituting a propylene biosynthetic pathway disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms also can include other genetic modifications that facilitate or optimize propylene biosynthesis or that confer other useful functions onto the host microbial organism. One such other functionality can include, for example, augmentation of the synthesis of one or more of the propylene pathway precursors such as 2-ketoglutarate or pyruvate.

Generally, a host microbial organism is selected such that it produces the precursor of a propylene pathway, either as a naturally produced molecule or as an engineered product that either provides de novo production of a desired precursor or increased production of a precursor naturally produced by the host microbial organism. For example, pyruvate and 2-ketoglutarate are produced naturally in a host organism such as E. coli. A host organism can be engineered to increase production of a precursor, as disclosed herein. In addition, a microbial organism that has been engineered to produce a desired precursor can be used as a host organism and further engineered to express enzymes or proteins of a propylene pathway.

In some embodiments, a non-naturally occurring microbial organism of the invention is generated from a host that contains the enzymatic capability to synthesize propylene. In this specific embodiment it can be useful to increase the synthesis or accumulation of a propylene pathway product to, for example, drive propylene pathway reactions toward propylene production. Increased synthesis or accumulation can be accomplished by, for example, overexpression of nucleic acids encoding one or more of the above-described propylene pathway enzymes or proteins. Overexpression of the enzyme or enzymes and/or protein or proteins of the propylene pathway can occur, for example, through exogenous expression of the endogenous gene or genes, or through exogenous expression of the heterologous gene or genes. Therefore, naturally occurring organisms can be readily generated to be non-naturally occurring microbial organisms of the invention, for example, producing propylene, through overexpression of one, two, three, or four, that is, up to all nucleic acids encoding propylene biosynthetic pathway enzymes or proteins. In addition, a non-naturally occurring organism can be generated by mutagenesis of an endogenous gene that results in an increase in activity of an enzyme in the propylene biosynthetic pathway.

In particularly useful embodiments, exogenous expression of the encoding nucleic acids is employed. Exogenous expression confers the ability to custom tailor the expression and/or regulatory elements to the host and application to achieve a desired expression level that is controlled by the user. However, endogenous expression also can be utilized in other embodiments such as by removing a negative regulatory effector or induction of the gene's promoter when linked to an inducible promoter or other regulatory element. Thus, an endogenous gene having a naturally occurring inducible promoter can be up-regulated by providing the appropriate inducing agent, or the regulatory region of an endogenous gene can be engineered to incorporate an inducible regulatory element, thereby allowing the regulation of increased expression of an endogenous gene at a desired time. Similarly, an inducible promoter can be included as a regulatory element for an exogenous gene introduced into a non-naturally occurring microbial organism.

It is understood that, in methods of the invention, any of the one or more exogenous nucleic acids can be introduced into a microbial organism to produce a non-naturally occurring microbial organism of the invention. The nucleic acids can be introduced so as to confer, for example, a propylene biosynthetic pathway onto the microbial organism. Alternatively, encoding nucleic acids can be introduced to produce an intermediate microbial organism having the biosynthetic capability to catalyze some of the required reactions to confer propylene biosynthetic capability. For example, a non-naturally occurring microbial organism having a propylene biosynthetic pathway can comprise at least two exogenous nucleic acids encoding desired enzymes or proteins, such as the combination of a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase and a propylene forming enzyme, or alternatively a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II and a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, or alternatively a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase and a propylene forming enzyme, and the like. Thus, it is understood that any combination of two or more enzymes or proteins of a biosynthetic pathway can be included in a non-naturally occurring microbial organism of the invention. Similarly, it is understood that any combination of three or more enzymes or proteins of a biosynthetic pathway can be included in a non-naturally occurring microbial organism of the invention, for example, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II and a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, or alternatively a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase and a propylene forming enzyme, or alternatively a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I and a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase, or alternatively a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase and a propylene forming enzyme and so forth, as desired, so long as the combination of enzymes and/or proteins of the desired biosynthetic pathway results in production of the corresponding desired product. Similarly, any combination of four, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase and a propylene forming enzyme or alternatively a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase and a propylene forming enzyme, or more enzymes or proteins of a biosynthetic pathway as disclosed herein can be included in a non-naturally occurring microbial organism of the invention, as desired, so long as the combination of enzymes and/or proteins of the desired biosynthetic pathway results in production of the corresponding desired product.

In addition to the biosynthesis of propylene as described herein, the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms and methods of the invention also can be utilized in various combinations with each other and with other microbial organisms and methods well known in the art to achieve product biosynthesis by other routes. For example, one alternative to produce propylene other than use of the propylene producers is through addition of another microbial organism capable of converting a propylene pathway intermediate to propylene. One such procedure includes, for example, the fermentation of a microbial organism that produces a propylene pathway intermediate. The propylene pathway intermediate can then be used as a substrate for a second microbial organism that converts the propylene pathway intermediate to propylene. The propylene pathway intermediate can be added directly to another culture of the second organism or the original culture of the propylene pathway intermediate producers can be depleted of these microbial organisms by, for example, cell separation, and then subsequent addition of the second organism to the fermentation broth can be utilized to produce the final product without intermediate purification steps.

In other embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms and methods of the invention can be assembled in a wide variety of subpathways to achieve biosynthesis of, for example, propylene. In these embodiments, biosynthetic pathways for a desired product of the invention can be segregated into different microbial organisms, and the different microbial organisms can be co-cultured to produce the final product. In such a biosynthetic scheme, the product of one microbial organism is the substrate for a second microbial organism until the final product is synthesized. For example, the biosynthesis of propylene can be accomplished by constructing a microbial organism that contains biosynthetic pathways for conversion of one pathway intermediate to another pathway intermediate or the product. Alternatively, propylene also can be biosynthetically produced from microbial organisms through co-culture or co-fermentation using two organisms in the same vessel, where the first microbial organism produces a propylene intermediate and the second microbial organism converts the intermediate to propylene.

Given the teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled in the art will understand that a wide variety of combinations and permutations exist for the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms and methods of the invention together with other microbial organisms, with the co-culture of other non-naturally occurring microbial organisms having subpathways and with combinations of other chemical and/or biochemical procedures well known in the art to produce propylene.

Sources of encoding nucleic acids for a propylene pathway enzyme or protein can include, for example, any species where the encoded gene product is capable of catalyzing the referenced reaction. Such species include both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms including, but not limited to, bacteria, including archaea and eubacteria, and eukaryotes, including yeast, plant, insect, animal, and mammal, including human. Exemplary species for such sources include, for example, Anaerotruncus colihominis DSM 17241, Bacteroides capillosus ATCC 29799, Campylobacter jejuni, Clostridium botulinum A3 str, Clostridium kluyveri, Clostridium tyrobutyricum, Comamonas estosterone, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Cupriavidus necator, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli C, Escherichia coli W, Eubacterium barkeri, Klebsiella estoster, Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, Moorella thermoacetica, Pelotomaculum thermopropionicum, Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1, Pseudomonas putida F1, Pseudomonas reinekei MT1, Pseudomonas sp. Strain B13, Pseudomonas syringae pv. Glycinea, Pseudomonas syringae pv. Phaseolicola PK2, Pseudomonas syringae pv. Pisi, Ralstonia eutropha JMP134, Ralstonia solanacearum, Rattus norvegicus, Rhodococcus opacus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Salmonella estost, Sphingomonas sp. SYK6, Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), Streptomyces fradiae, Streptomyces roseosporus NRRL 11379, Thermus thermophilus, as well as other exemplary species disclosed herein or available as source organisms for corresponding genes. However, with the complete genome sequence available for now more than 550 species (with more than half of these available on public databases such as the NCBI), including 395 microorganism genomes and a variety of yeast, fungi, plant, and mammalian genomes, the identification of genes encoding the requisite propylene biosynthetic activity for one or more genes in related or distant species, including for example, homologues, orthologs, paralogs and nonorthologous gene displacements of known genes, and the interchange of genetic alterations between organisms is routine and well known in the art. Accordingly, the metabolic alterations allowing biosynthesis of propylene described herein with reference to a particular organism such as E. coli can be readily applied to other microorganisms, including prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms alike. Given the teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled in the art will know that a metabolic alteration exemplified in one organism can be applied equally to other organisms.

In some instances, such as when an alternative propylene biosynthetic pathway exists in an unrelated species, propylene biosynthesis can be conferred onto the host species by, for example, exogenous expression of a estoste or paralogs from the unrelated species that catalyzes a similar, yet non-identical metabolic reaction to replace the referenced reaction. Because certain differences among metabolic networks exist between different organisms, those skilled in the art will understand that the actual gene usage between different organisms may differ. However, given the teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled in the art also will understand that the teachings and methods of the invention can be applied to all microbial organisms using the cognate metabolic alterations to those exemplified herein to construct a microbial organism in a species of interest that will synthesize propylene.

Methods for constructing and testing the expression levels of a non-naturally occurring propylene-producing host can be performed, for example, by recombinant and detection methods well known in the art. Such methods can be found described in, for example, Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Third Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York (2001); and Ausubel et al., Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley and Sons, Baltimore, Md. (1999).

Exogenous nucleic acid sequences involved in a pathway for production of propylene can be introduced stably or transiently into a host cell using techniques well known in the art including, but not limited to, conjugation, electroporation, chemical transformation, transduction, transfection, and ultrasound transformation. For exogenous expression in E. coli or other prokaryotic cells, some nucleic acid sequences in the genes or cDNAs of eukaryotic nucleic acids can encode targeting signals such as an N-terminal mitochondrial or other targeting signal, which can be removed before transformation into prokaryotic host cells, if desired. For example, removal of a mitochondrial leader sequence led to increased expression in E. coli (Hoffmeister et al., J. Biol. Chem. 280:4329-4338 (2005)). For exogenous expression in yeast or other eukaryotic cells, genes can be expressed in the cytosol without the addition of leader sequence, or can be targeted to mitochondrion or other organelles, or targeted for secretion, by the addition of a suitable targeting sequence such as a mitochondrial targeting or secretion signal suitable for the host cells. Thus, it is understood that appropriate modifications to a nucleic acid sequence to remove or include a targeting sequence can be incorporated into an exogenous nucleic acid sequence to impart desirable properties. Furthermore, genes can be subjected to codon optimization with techniques well known in the art to achieve optimized expression of the proteins.

An expression vector or vectors can be constructed to include one or more propylene biosynthetic pathway encoding nucleic acids as exemplified herein operably linked to expression control sequences functional in the host organism. Expression vectors applicable for use in the microbial host organisms of the invention include, for example, plasmids, phage vectors, viral vectors, episomes and artificial chromosomes, including vectors and selection sequences or markers operable for stable integration into a host chromosome. Additionally, the expression vectors can include one or more selectable marker genes and appropriate expression control sequences. Selectable marker genes also can be included that, for example, provide resistance to antibiotics or toxins, complement auxotrophic deficiencies, or supply critical nutrients not in the culture media. Expression control sequences can include constitutive and inducible promoters, transcription enhancers, transcription terminators, and the like which are well known in the art. When two or more exogenous encoding nucleic acids are to be co-expressed, both nucleic acids can be inserted, for example, into a single expression vector or in separate expression vectors. For single vector expression, the encoding nucleic acids can be operationally linked to one common expression control sequence or linked to different expression control sequences, such as one inducible promoter and one constitutive promoter. The transformation of exogenous nucleic acid sequences involved in a metabolic or synthetic pathway can be confirmed using methods well known in the art. Such methods include, for example, nucleic acid analysis such as Northern blots or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of mRNA, or immunoblotting for expression of gene products, or other suitable analytical methods to test the expression of an introduced nucleic acid sequence or its corresponding gene product. It is understood by those skilled in the art that the exogenous nucleic acid is expressed in a sufficient amount to produce the desired product, and it is further understood that expression levels can be optimized to obtain sufficient expression using methods well known in the art and as disclosed herein.

In some embodiments, the invention provides a method for producing propylene that includes culturing a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, including a microbial organism having a propylene pathway, the propylene pathway including at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase or a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 2, steps 1-2). In one aspect, the method includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway including a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase and a propylene forming enzyme (FIG. 2, steps 1 and 2).

In some embodiments, the invention provides a method for producing propylene that includes culturing a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, including a microbial organism having a propylene pathway, the propylene pathway including at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase or a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 3, steps A-F). In one aspect, the method includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway including a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 3, steps A, B, C and F). In one aspect, the method includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway including a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase and a propylene forming enzyme (FIG. 3, steps A, D, E and F).

In some embodiments, the invention provides a method for producing propylene that includes culturing a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, including a microbial organism having a propylene pathway, the propylene pathway including at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a leucine aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; a 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate dehydrogenase; an isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase; a 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase; a 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydrolase, transferase or synthetase; a 3-methylglutaconate hydratase; a 3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase; a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA dehydratase; or a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase (see FIG. 4, steps A-I). In one aspect, the method includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway including a leucine aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; a 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate dehydrogenase; a isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase; a 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase; a 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydrolase, transferase or synthetase; a 3-methylglutaconate hydratase; a 3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 4, steps A-G and FIG. 2, step 2). In one aspect, the method includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway including a 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydrolase, transferase or synthetase; a 3-methylglutaconate hydratase; a 3-methyl-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase; a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA dehydratase; a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 4, steps I, H, E-G and FIG. 2, step 2). Sources of encoding nucleic acids for a propylene pathway enzyme or protein described above are well known in the art and can be obtained from a variety of species including, but limited to, those exemplified herein.

In some embodiments, the invention provides a method for producing propylene that includes culturing a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, including a microbial organism having a propylene pathway, the propylene pathway including at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene, the propylene pathway including a lysine 6-aminotransferase, a 6-dehydrogenase (deaminating) or 6-oxidase; an 2-aminoadipate dehydrogenase; an 2-aminoadipate mutase; a 4-methyl-2-aminoglutarate aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; a 2-aminoadipate aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; or a 2-oxoadipate mutase (see FIG. 5, steps A-F). In one aspect, the method includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway including a lysine 6-aminotransferase, 6-dehydrogenase (deaminating) or 6-oxidase; an 2-aminoadipate dehydrogenase, an 2-aminoadipate mutase; a 4-methyl-2-aminoglutarate aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 5, steps A-D, FIG. 3, step F). In one aspect, the method includes a microbial organism having a propylene pathway including a lysine 6-aminotransferase, 6-dehydrogenase (deaminating) or 6-oxidase; a 2-aminoadipate dehydrogenase; an 2-aminoadipate aminotransferase, dehydrogenase (deaminating) or oxidase; an 2-oxoadipate mutase; and a propylene forming enzyme (see FIG. 5, steps A, B, E and F, FIG. 3, step F). Sources of encoding nucleic acids for a propylene pathway enzyme or protein described above are well known in the art and can be obtained from a variety of species including, but limited to, those exemplified herein.

In some embodiments, the invention provides a method for producing propylene that includes culturing a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, including a microbial organism having at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene; the non-naturally occurring microbial organism further comprising: (i) a reductive TCA pathway comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme, wherein the at least one exogenous nucleic acid is selected from an ATP-citrate lyase, citrate lyase, a citryl-CoA synthetase, a citryl-CoA lyase, a fumarate reductase, and an alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase; (ii) a reductive TCA pathway comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme, wherein the at least one exogenous nucleic acid is selected from a pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, a CO dehydrogenase, and an H2 hydrogenase; or (iii) at least one exogenous nucleic acid encodes an enzyme selected from a CO dehydrogenase, an H2 hydrogenase, and combinations thereof. The propylene pathway can be selected from (a) a propylene forming enzyme and a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase; and (b) a propylene forming enzyme, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, and a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase.

In another embodiment, the invention provides a method for producing propylene that includes culturing a non-naturally occurring microbial organism, including a microbial organism comprising (i) can further comprise an exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme selected from a pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, an aconitase, an isocitrate dehydrogenase, a succinyl-CoA synthetase, a succinyl-CoA transferase, a fumarase, a malate dehydrogenase, an acetate kinase, a phosphotransacetylase, an acetyl-CoA synthetase, an NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, ferredoxin, and combinations thereof. In yet another embodiment, a microbial organism comprising (ii) can further comprise an exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme selected from an aconitase, an isocitrate dehydrogenase, a succinyl-CoA synthetase, a succinyl-CoA transferase, a fumarase, a malate dehydrogenase, and combinations thereof. In a particular embodiment the microbial organism used in the method can comprise (a) two exogenous nucleic acids encoding a propylene forming enzyme and a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase; or (b) four exogenous nucleic acids encoding a propylene forming enzyme, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, and a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase.

Suitable purification and/or assays to test for the production of propylene can be performed using well known methods. Suitable replicates such as triplicate cultures can be grown for each engineered strain to be tested. For example, product and byproduct formation in the engineered production host can be monitored. The final product and intermediates, and other organic compounds, can be analyzed by methods such as HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography), GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy) and LC-MS (Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy) or other suitable analytical methods using routine procedures well known in the art. The release of product in the fermentation broth can also be tested with the culture supernatant. Byproducts and residual glucose can be quantified by HPLC using, for example, a refractive index detector for glucose and alcohols, and a UV detector for organic acids (Lin et al., Biotechnol. Bioeng. 90:775-779 (2005)), or other suitable assay and detection methods well known in the art. The individual enzyme or protein activities from the exogenous DNA sequences can also be assayed using methods well known in the art. For typical Assay Methods, see Manual on Hydrocarbon Analysis (ASTM Manula Series, A. W. Drews, ed., 6^(th) edition, 1998, American Society for Testing and Materials, Baltimore, Md.

The propylene can be separated from other components in the culture using a variety of methods well known in the art. Such separation methods include, for example, extraction procedures as well as methods that include continuous liquid-liquid extraction, pervaporation, membrane filtration, membrane separation, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, distillation, crystallization, centrifugation, extractive filtration, ion exchange chromatography, size exclusion chromatography, adsorption chromatography, and ultrafiltration. All of the above methods are well known in the art.

Any of the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms described herein can be cultured to produce and/or secrete the biosynthetic products of the invention. For example, the propylene producers can be cultured for the biosynthetic production of propylene.

For the production of propylene, the recombinant strains are cultured in a medium with carbon source and other essential nutrients. It is sometimes desirable and can be highly desirable to maintain anaerobic conditions in the fermenter to reduce the cost of the overall process. Such conditions can be obtained, for example, by first sparging the medium with nitrogen and then sealing the flasks with a septum and crimp-cap. For strains where growth is not observed anaerobically, microaerobic or substantially anaerobic conditions can be applied by perforating the septum with a small hole for limited aeration. Exemplary anaerobic conditions have been described previously and are well-known in the art. Exemplary aerobic and anaerobic conditions are described, for example, in United State publication 2009/0047719, filed Aug. 10, 2007. Fermentations can be performed in a batch, fed-batch or continuous manner, as disclosed herein.

If desired, the pH of the medium can be maintained at a desired pH, in particular neutral pH, such as a pH of around 7 by addition of a base, such as NaOH or other bases, or acid, as needed to maintain the culture medium at a desirable pH. The growth rate can be determined by measuring optical density using a spectrophotometer (600 nm), and the glucose uptake rate by monitoring carbon source depletion over time.

The growth medium can include, for example, any carbohydrate source which can supply a source of carbon to the non-naturally occurring microorganism. Such sources include, for example, sugars such as glucose, xylose, arabinose, galactose, mannose, fructose, sucrose and starch. Other sources of carbohydrate include, for example, renewable feedstocks and biomass. Exemplary types of biomasses that can be used as feedstocks in the methods of the invention include cellulosic biomass, hemicellulosic biomass and lignin feedstocks or portions of feedstocks. Such biomass feedstocks contain, for example, carbohydrate substrates useful as carbon sources such as glucose, xylose, arabinose, galactose, mannose, fructose and starch. Given the teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled in the art will understand that renewable feedstocks and biomass other than those exemplified above also can be used for culturing the microbial organisms of the invention for the production of propylene.

In addition to renewable feedstocks such as those exemplified above, the propylene microbial organisms of the invention also can be modified for growth on syngas as its source of carbon. In this specific embodiment, one or more proteins or enzymes are expressed in the propylene producing organisms to provide a metabolic pathway for utilization of syngas or other gaseous carbon source.

Synthesis gas, also known as syngas or producer gas, is the major product of gasification of coal and of carbonaceous materials such as biomass materials, including agricultural crops and residues. Syngas is a mixture primarily of H₂ and CO and can be obtained from the gasification of any organic feedstock, including but not limited to coal, coal oil, natural gas, biomass, and waste organic matter. Gasification is generally carried out under a high fuel to oxygen ratio. Although largely H₂ and CO, syngas can also include CO₂ and other gases in smaller quantities. Thus, synthesis gas provides a cost effective source of gaseous carbon such as CO and, additionally, CO₂.

The Wood-Ljungdahl pathway catalyzes the conversion of CO and H₂ to acetyl-CoA and other products such as acetate. Organisms capable of utilizing CO and syngas also generally have the capability of utilizing CO₂ and CO₂/H₂ mixtures through the same basic set of enzymes and transformations encompassed by the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. H₂-dependent conversion of CO₂ to acetate by microorganisms was recognized long before it was revealed that CO also could be used by the same organisms and that the same pathways were involved. Many acetogens have been shown to grow in the presence of CO₂ and produce compounds such as acetate as long as hydrogen is present to supply the necessary reducing equivalents (see for example, Drake, Acetogenesis, pp. 3-60 Chapman and Hall, New York, (1994)). This can be summarized by the following equation:

2CO₂+4H₂ +n ADP+n Pi→CH₃COOH+2H₂ O+n ATP

Hence, non-naturally occurring microorganisms possessing the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway can utilize CO₂ and H₂ mixtures as well for the production of acetyl-CoA and other desired products.

The Wood-Ljungdahl pathway is well known in the art and consists of 12 reactions which can be separated into two branches: (1) methyl branch and (2) carbonyl branch. The methyl branch converts syngas to methyl-tetrahydrofolate (methyl-THF) whereas the carbonyl branch converts methyl-THF to acetyl-CoA. The reactions in the methyl branch are catalyzed in order by the following enzymes or proteins: ferredoxin oxidoreductase, formate dehydrogenase, formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase, methenyltetrahydrofolate cyclodehydratase, methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. The reactions in the carbonyl branch are catalyzed in order by the following enzymes or proteins: methyltetrahydrofolate:corrinoid protein methyltransferase (for example, AcsE), corrinoid iron-sulfur protein, nickel-protein assembly protein (for example, AcsF), ferredoxin, acetyl-CoA synthase, carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and nickel-protein assembly protein (for example, CooC). Following the teachings and guidance provided herein for introducing a sufficient number of encoding nucleic acids to generate a propylene pathway, those skilled in the art will understand that the same engineering design also can be performed with respect to introducing at least the nucleic acids encoding the Wood-Ljungdahl enzymes or proteins absent in the host organism. Therefore, introduction of one or more encoding nucleic acids into the microbial organisms of the invention such that the modified organism contains the complete Wood-Ljungdahl pathway will confer syngas utilization ability.

Additionally, the reductive (reverse) tricarboxylic acid cycle coupled with carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and/or hydrogenase activities can also be used for the conversion of CO, CO₂ and/or H₂ to acetyl-CoA and other products such as acetate. Organisms capable of fixing carbon via the reductive TCA pathway can utilize one or more of the following enzymes: ATP citrate-lyase, citrate lyase, aconitase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, succinyl-CoA synthetase, succinyl-CoA transferase, fumarate reductase, fumarase, malate dehydrogenase, NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, and hydrogenase. Specifically, the reducing equivalents extracted from CO and/or H₂ by carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and hydrogenase are utilized to fix CO₂ via the reductive TCA cycle into acetyl-CoA or acetate. Acetate can be converted to acetyl-CoA by enzymes such as acetyl-CoA transferase, acetate kinase/phosphotransacetylase, and acetyl-CoA synthetase. Acetyl-CoA can be converted to the propylene precursors, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, phosphoenolpyruvate, and pyruvate, by pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase and the enzymes of gluconeogenesis. Following the teachings and guidance provided herein for introducing a sufficient number of encoding nucleic acids to generate a p-toluate, terephthalate or (2-hydroxy-3-methyl-4-oxobutoxy)phosphonate pathway, those skilled in the art will understand that the same engineering design also can be performed with respect to introducing at least the nucleic acids encoding the reductive TCA pathway enzymes or proteins absent in the host organism. Therefore, introduction of one or more encoding nucleic acids into the microbial organisms of the invention such that the modified organism contains a reductive TCA pathway can confer syngas utilization ability.

Accordingly, given the teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled in the art will understand that a non-naturally occurring microbial organism can be produced that secretes the biosynthesized compounds of the invention when grown on a carbon source such as a carbohydrate. Such compounds include, for example, propylene and any of the intermediate metabolites in the propylene pathway. All that is required is to engineer in one or more of the required enzyme or protein activities to achieve biosynthesis of the desired compound or intermediate including, for example, inclusion of some or all of the propylene biosynthetic pathways. Accordingly, the invention provides a non-naturally occurring microbial organism that produces and/or secretes propylene when grown on a carbohydrate or other carbon source and produces and/or secretes any of the intermediate metabolites shown in the propylene pathway when grown on a carbohydrate or other carbon source. The propylene producing microbial organisms of the invention can initiate synthesis from an intermediate, for example, 3-methyle-ketoglutarate, 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate, 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate, or 4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate.

The non-naturally occurring microbial organisms of the invention are constructed using methods well known in the art as exemplified herein to exogenously express at least one nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme or protein in sufficient amounts to produce propylene. It is understood that the microbial organisms of the invention are cultured under conditions sufficient to produce propylene. Following the teachings and guidance provided herein, the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms of the invention can achieve biosynthesis of propylene resulting in intracellular concentrations between about 0.001-2000 mM or more. Generally, the intracellular concentration of propylene is between about 3-1500 mM, particularly between about 5-1250 mM and more particularly between about 8-1000 mM, including about 100 mM, 200 mM, 500 mM, 800 mM, or more. Intracellular concentrations between and above each of these exemplary ranges also can be achieved from the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms of the invention.

In some embodiments, culture conditions include anaerobic or substantially anaerobic growth or maintenance conditions. Exemplary anaerobic conditions have been described previously and are well known in the art. Exemplary anaerobic conditions for fermentation processes are described herein and are described, for example, in U.S. publication 2009/0047719, filed Aug. 10, 2007. Any of these conditions can be employed with the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms as well as other anaerobic conditions well known in the art. Under such anaerobic or substantially anaerobic conditions, the propylene producers can synthesize propylene at intracellular concentrations of 5-10 mM or more as well as all other concentrations exemplified herein. It is understood that, even though the above description refers to intracellular concentrations, propylene producing microbial organisms can produce propylene intracellularly and/or secrete the product into the culture medium.

In addition to the culturing and fermentation conditions disclosed herein, growth condition for achieving biosynthesis of propylene can include the addition of an osmoprotectant to the culturing conditions. In certain embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms of the invention can be sustained, cultured or fermented as described herein in the presence of an osmoprotectant. Briefly, an osmoprotectant refers to a compound that acts as an osmolyte and helps a microbial organism as described herein survive osmotic stress. Osmoprotectants include, but are not limited to, betaines, amino acids, and the sugar trehalose. Non-limiting examples of such are glycine betaine, praline betaine, dimethylthetin, dimethylslfonioproprionate, 3-dimethylsulfonio-2-methylproprionate, pipecolic acid, dimethylsulfonioacetate, choline, L-carnitine and ectoine. In one aspect, the osmoprotectant is glycine betaine. It is understood to one of ordinary skill in the art that the amount and type of osmoprotectant suitable for protecting a microbial organism described herein from osmotic stress will depend on the microbial organism used. The amount of osmoprotectant in the culturing conditions can be, for example, no more than about 0.1 mM, no more than about 0.5 mM, no more than about 1.0 mM, no more than about 1.5 mM, no more than about 2.0 mM, no more than about 2.5 mM, no more than about 3.0 mM, no more than about 5.0 mM, no more than about 7.0 mM, no more than about 10 mM, no more than about 50 mM, no more than about 100 mM or no more than about 500 mM.

The culture conditions can include, for example, liquid culture procedures as well as fermentation and other large scale culture procedures. As described herein, particularly useful yields of the biosynthetic products of the invention can be obtained under anaerobic or substantially anaerobic culture conditions.

As described herein, one exemplary growth condition for achieving biosynthesis of propylene includes anaerobic culture or fermentation conditions. In certain embodiments, the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms of the invention can be sustained, cultured or fermented under anaerobic or substantially anaerobic conditions. Briefly, anaerobic conditions refers to an environment devoid of oxygen. Substantially anaerobic conditions include, for example, a culture, batch fermentation or continuous fermentation such that the dissolved oxygen concentration in the medium remains between 0 and 10% of saturation. Substantially anaerobic conditions also includes growing or resting cells in liquid medium or on solid agar inside a sealed chamber maintained with an atmosphere of less than 1% oxygen. The percent of oxygen can be maintained by, for example, sparging the culture with an N₂/CO₂ mixture or other suitable non-oxygen gas or gases.

The culture conditions described herein can be scaled up and grown continuously for manufacturing of propylene. Exemplary growth procedures include, for example, fed-batch fermentation and batch separation; fed-batch fermentation and continuous separation, or continuous fermentation and continuous separation. All of these processes are well known in the art. Fermentation procedures are particularly useful for the biosynthetic production of commercial quantities of propylene. Generally, and as with non-continuous culture procedures, the continuous and/or near-continuous production of propylene will include culturing a non-naturally occurring propylene producing organism of the invention in sufficient nutrients and medium to sustain and/or nearly sustain growth in an exponential phase. Continuous culture under such conditions can include, for example, growth for 1 day, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 days or more. Additionally, continuous culture can include longer time periods of 1 week, 2, 3, 4 or 5 or more weeks and up to several months. Alternatively, organisms of the invention can be cultured for hours, if suitable for a particular application. It is to be understood that the continuous and/or near-continuous culture conditions also can include all time intervals in between these exemplary periods. It is further understood that the time of culturing the microbial organism of the invention is for a sufficient period of time to produce a sufficient amount of product for a desired purpose.

Fermentation procedures are well known in the art. Briefly, fermentation for the biosynthetic production of propylene can be utilized in, for example, fed-batch fermentation and batch separation; fed-batch fermentation and continuous separation, or continuous fermentation and continuous separation. Examples of batch and continuous fermentation procedures are well known in the art.

In addition to the above fermentation procedures using the propylene producers of the invention for continuous production of substantial quantities of propylene, the propylene producers also can be, for example, simultaneously subjected to chemical synthesis procedures to convert the product to other compounds or the product can be separated from the fermentation culture and sequentially subjected to chemical or enzymatic conversion to convert the product to other compounds, if desired.

To generate better producers, metabolic modeling can be utilized to optimize growth conditions. Modeling can also be used to design gene knockouts that additionally optimize utilization of the pathway (see, for example, U.S. patent publications US 2002/0012939, US 2003/0224363, US 2004/0029149, US 2004/0072723, US 2003/0059792, US 2002/0168654 and US 2004/0009466, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,379). Modeling analysis allows reliable predictions of the effects on cell growth of shifting the metabolism towards more efficient production of propylene.

One computational method for identifying and designing metabolic alterations favoring biosynthesis of a desired product is the OptKnock computational framework (Burgard et al., Biotechnol. Bioeng. 84:647-657 (2003)). OptKnock is a metabolic modeling and simulation program that suggests gene deletion or disruption strategies that result in genetically stable microorganisms which overproduce the target product. Specifically, the framework examines the complete metabolic and/or biochemical network of a microorganism in order to suggest genetic manipulations that force the desired biochemical to become an obligatory byproduct of cell growth. By coupling biochemical production with cell growth through strategically placed gene deletions or other functional gene disruption, the growth selection pressures imposed on the engineered strains after long periods of time in a bioreactor lead to improvements in performance as a result of the compulsory growth-coupled biochemical production. Lastly, when gene deletions are constructed there is a negligible possibility of the designed strains reverting to their wild-type states because the genes selected by OptKnock are to be completely removed from the genome. Therefore, this computational methodology can be used to either identify alternative pathways that lead to biosynthesis of a desired product or used in connection with the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms for further optimization of biosynthesis of a desired product.

Briefly, OptKnock is a term used herein to refer to a computational method and system for modeling cellular metabolism. The OptKnock program relates to a framework of models and methods that incorporate particular constraints into flux balance analysis (FBA) models. These constraints include, for example, qualitative kinetic information, qualitative regulatory information, and/or DNA microarray experimental data. OptKnock also computes solutions to various metabolic problems by, for example, tightening the flux boundaries derived through flux balance models and subsequently probing the performance limits of metabolic networks in the presence of gene additions or deletions. OptKnock computational framework allows the construction of model formulations that allow an effective query of the performance limits of metabolic networks and provides methods for solving the resulting mixed-integer linear programming problems. The metabolic modeling and simulation methods referred to herein as OptKnock are described in, for example, U.S. publication 2002/0168654, filed Jan. 10, 2002, in International Patent No. PCT/US02/00660, filed Jan. 10, 2002, and U.S. publication 2009/0047719, filed Aug. 10, 2007.

Another computational method for identifying and designing metabolic alterations favoring biosynthetic production of a product is a metabolic modeling and simulation system termed SimPheny®. This computational method and system is described in, for example, U.S. publication 2003/0233218, filed Jun. 14, 2002, and in International Patent Application No. PCT/US03/18838, filed Jun. 13, 2003. SimPheny® is a computational system that can be used to produce a network model in silico and to simulate the flux of mass, energy or charge through the chemical reactions of a biological system to define a solution space that contains any and all possible functionalities of the chemical reactions in the system, thereby determining a range of allowed activities for the biological system. This approach is referred to as constraints-based modeling because the solution space is defined by constraints such as the known stoichiometry of the included reactions as well as reaction thermodynamic and capacity constraints associated with maximum fluxes through reactions. The space defined by these constraints can be interrogated to determine the phenotypic capabilities and behavior of the biological system or of its biochemical components.

These computational approaches are consistent with biological realities because biological systems are flexible and can reach the same result in many different ways. Biological systems are designed through evolutionary mechanisms that have been restricted by fundamental constraints that all living systems must face. Therefore, constraints-based modeling strategy embraces these general realities. Further, the ability to continuously impose further restrictions on a network model via the tightening of constraints results in a reduction in the size of the solution space, thereby enhancing the precision with which physiological performance or phenotype can be predicted.

Given the teachings and guidance provided herein, those skilled in the art will be able to apply various computational frameworks for metabolic modeling and simulation to design and implement biosynthesis of a desired compound in host microbial organisms. Such metabolic modeling and simulation methods include, for example, the computational systems exemplified above as SimPheny® and OptKnock. For illustration of the invention, some methods are described herein with reference to the OptKnock computation framework for modeling and simulation. Those skilled in the art will know how to apply the identification, design and implementation of the metabolic alterations using OptKnock to any of such other metabolic modeling and simulation computational frameworks and methods well known in the art.

The methods described above will provide one set of metabolic reactions to disrupt. Elimination of each reaction within the set or metabolic modification can result in a desired product as an obligatory product during the growth phase of the organism. Because the reactions are known, a solution to the bilevel OptKnock problem also will provide the associated gene or genes encoding one or more enzymes that catalyze each reaction within the set of reactions. Identification of a set of reactions and their corresponding genes encoding the enzymes participating in each reaction is generally an automated process, accomplished through correlation of the reactions with a reaction database having a relationship between enzymes and encoding genes.

Once identified, the set of reactions that are to be disrupted in order to achieve production of a desired product are implemented in the target cell or organism by functional disruption of at least one gene encoding each metabolic reaction within the set. One particularly useful means to achieve functional disruption of the reaction set is by deletion of each encoding gene. However, in some instances, it can be beneficial to disrupt the reaction by other genetic aberrations including, for example, mutation, deletion of regulatory regions such as promoters or cis binding sites for regulatory factors, or by truncation of the coding sequence at any of a number of locations. These latter aberrations, resulting in less than total deletion of the gene set can be useful, for example, when rapid assessments of the coupling of a product are desired or when genetic reversion is less likely to occur.

To identify additional productive solutions to the above described bilevel OptKnock problem which lead to further sets of reactions to disrupt or metabolic modifications that can result in the biosynthesis, including growth-coupled biosynthesis of a desired product, an optimization method, termed integer cuts, can be implemented. This method proceeds by iteratively solving the OptKnock problem exemplified above with the incorporation of an additional constraint referred to as an integer cut at each iteration. Integer cut constraints effectively prevent the solution procedure from choosing the exact same set of reactions identified in any previous iteration that obligatorily couples product biosynthesis to growth. For example, if a previously identified growth-coupled metabolic modification specifies reactions 1, 2, and 3 for disruption, then the following constraint prevents the same reactions from being simultaneously considered in subsequent solutions. The integer cut method is well known in the art and can be found described in, for example, Burgard et al., Biotechnol. Prog. 17:791-797 (2001). As with all methods described herein with reference to their use in combination with the OptKnock computational framework for metabolic modeling and simulation, the integer cut method of reducing redundancy in iterative computational analysis also can be applied with other computational frameworks well known in the art including, for example, SimPheny®.

The methods exemplified herein allow the construction of cells and organisms that biosynthetically produce a desired product, including the obligatory coupling of production of a target biochemical product to growth of the cell or organism engineered to harbor the identified genetic alterations. Therefore, the computational methods described herein allow the identification and implementation of metabolic modifications that are identified by an in silico method selected from OptKnock or SimPheny®. The set of metabolic modifications can include, for example, addition of one or more biosynthetic pathway enzymes and/or functional disruption of one or more metabolic reactions including, for example, disruption by gene deletion.

As discussed above, the OptKnock methodology was developed on the premise that mutant microbial networks can be evolved towards their computationally predicted maximum-growth phenotypes when subjected to long periods of growth selection. In other words, the approach leverages an organism's ability to self-optimize under selective pressures. The OptKnock framework allows for the exhaustive enumeration of gene deletion combinations that force a coupling between biochemical production and cell growth based on network stoichiometry. The identification of optimal gene/reaction knockouts requires the solution of a bilevel optimization problem that chooses the set of active reactions such that an optimal growth solution for the resulting network overproduces the biochemical of interest (Burgard et al., Biotechnol. Bioeng. 84:647-657 (2003)).

An in silico stoichiometric model of E. coli metabolism can be employed to identify essential genes for metabolic pathways as exemplified previously and described in, for example, U.S. patent publications US 2002/0012939, US 2003/0224363, US 2004/0029149, US 2004/0072723, US 2003/0059792, US 2002/0168654 and US 2004/0009466, and in U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,379. As disclosed herein, the OptKnock mathematical framework can be applied to pinpoint gene deletions leading to the growth-coupled production of a desired product. Further, the solution of the bilevel OptKnock problem provides only one set of deletions. To enumerate all meaningful solutions, that is, all sets of knockouts leading to growth-coupled production formation, an optimization technique, termed integer cuts, can be implemented. This entails iteratively solving the OptKnock problem with the incorporation of an additional constraint referred to as an integer cut at each iteration, as discussed above.

As disclosed herein, a nucleic acid encoding a desired activity of a propylene pathway can be introduced into a host organism. In some cases, it can be desirable to modify an activity of a propylene pathway enzyme or protein to increase production of propylene. For example, known mutations that increase the activity of a protein or enzyme can be introduced into an encoding nucleic acid molecule. Additionally, optimization methods can be applied to increase the activity of an enzyme or protein and/or decrease an inhibitory activity, for example, decrease the activity of a negative regulator.

One such optimization method is directed evolution. Directed evolution is a powerful approach that involves the introduction of mutations targeted to a specific gene in order to improve and/or alter the properties of an enzyme. Improved and/or altered enzymes can be identified through the development and implementation of sensitive high-throughput screening assays that allow the automated screening of many enzyme variants (for example, >10⁴). Iterative rounds of mutagenesis and screening typically are performed to afford an enzyme with optimized properties. Computational algorithms that can help to identify areas of the gene for mutagenesis also have been developed and can significantly reduce the number of enzyme variants that need to be generated and screened. Numerous directed evolution technologies have been developed (for reviews, see Hibbert et al., Biomol. Eng 22:11-19 (2005); Huisman and Lalonde, In Biocatalysis in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries pgs. 717-742 (2007), Patel (ed.), CRC Press; Otten and Quax. Biomol. Eng 22:1-9 (2005); and Sen et al., Appl Biochem. Biotechnol 143:212-223 (2007)) to be effective at creating diverse variant libraries, and these methods have been successfully applied to the improvement of a wide range of properties across many enzyme classes. Enzyme characteristics that have been improved and/or altered by directed evolution technologies include, for example: selectivity/specificity, for conversion of non-natural substrates; temperature stability, for robust high temperature processing; pH stability, for bioprocessing under lower or higher pH conditions; substrate or product tolerance, so that high product titers can be achieved; binding (K_(m)), including broadening substrate binding to include non-natural substrates; inhibition (K_(i)), to remove inhibition by products, substrates, or key intermediates; activity (kcat), to increases enzymatic reaction rates to achieve desired flux; expression levels, to increase protein yields and overall pathway flux; oxygen stability, for operation of air sensitive enzymes under aerobic conditions; and anaerobic activity, for operation of an aerobic enzyme in the absence of oxygen.

Described below in more detail are exemplary methods that have been developed for the mutagenesis and diversification of genes to target desired properties of specific enzymes. Such methods are well known to those skilled in the art. Any of these can be used to alter and/or optimize the activity of a propylene pathway enzyme or protein.

EpPCR (Pritchard et al., J Theor. Biol. 234:497-509 (2005)) introduces random point mutations by reducing the fidelity of DNA polymerase in PCR reactions by the addition of Mn²⁺ ions, by biasing dNTP concentrations, or by other conditional variations. The five step cloning process to confine the mutagenesis to the target gene of interest involves: 1) error-prone PCR amplification of the gene of interest; 2) restriction enzyme digestion; 3) gel purification of the desired DNA fragment; 4) ligation into a vector; 5) transformation of the gene variants into a suitable host and screening of the library for improved performance. This method can generate multiple mutations in a single gene simultaneously, which can be useful to screen a larger number of potential variants having a desired activity. A high number of mutants can be generated by EpPCR, so a high-throughput screening assay or a selection method, for example, using robotics, is useful to identify those with desirable characteristics.

Error-prone Rolling Circle Amplification (epRCA) (Fujii et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 32:e145 (2004); and Fujii et al., Nat. Protoc. 1:2493-2497 (2006)) has many of the same elements as epPCR except a whole circular plasmid is used as the template and random 6-mers with exonuclease resistant thiophosphate linkages on the last 2 nucleotides are used to amplify the plasmid followed by transformation into cells in which the plasmid is re-circularized at tandem repeats. Adjusting the Mn²⁺ concentration can vary the mutation rate somewhat. This technique uses a simple error-prone, single-step method to create a full copy of the plasmid with 3-4 mutations/kbp. No restriction enzyme digestion or specific primers are required. Additionally, this method is typically available as a commercially available kit.

DNA or Family Shuffling (Stemmer, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91:10747-10751 (1994)); and Stemmer, Nature 370:389-391 (1994)) typically involves digestion of two or more variant genes with nucleases such as Dnase I or EndoV to generate a pool of random fragments that are reassembled by cycles of annealing and extension in the presence of DNA polymerase to create a library of chimeric genes. Fragments prime each other and recombination occurs when one copy primes another copy (template switch). This method can be used with >1 kbp DNA sequences. In addition to mutational recombinants created by fragment reassembly, this method introduces point mutations in the extension steps at a rate similar to error-prone PCR. The method can be used to remove deleterious, random and neutral mutations.

Staggered Extension (StEP) (Zhao et al., Nat. Biotechnol. 16:258-261 (1998)) entails template priming followed by repeated cycles of 2 step PCR with denaturation and very short duration of annealing/extension (as short as 5 sec). Growing fragments anneal to different templates and extend further, which is repeated until full-length sequences are made. Template switching means most resulting fragments have multiple parents. Combinations of low-fidelity polymerases (Taq and Mutazyme) reduce error-prone biases because of opposite mutational spectra.

In Random Priming Recombination (RPR) random sequence primers are used to generate many short DNA fragments complementary to different segments of the template (Shao et al., Nucleic Acids Res 26:681-683 (1998)). Base misincorporation and mispriming via epPCR give point mutations. Short DNA fragments prime one another based on homology and are recombined and reassembled into full-length by repeated thermocycling. Removal of templates prior to this step assures low parental recombinants. This method, like most others, can be performed over multiple iterations to evolve distinct properties. This technology avoids sequence bias, is independent of gene length, and requires very little parent DNA for the application.

In Heteroduplex Recombination linearized plasmid DNA is used to form heteroduplexes that are repaired by mismatch repair (Volkov et al, Nucleic Acids Res. 27:e18 (1999); and Volkov et al., Methods Enzymol. 328:456-463 (2000)). The mismatch repair step is at least somewhat mutagenic. Heteroduplexes transform more efficiently than linear homoduplexes. This method is suitable for large genes and whole operons.

Random Chimeragenesis on Transient Templates (RACHITT) (Coco et al., Nat. Biotechnol. 19:354-359 (2001)) employs Dnase I fragmentation and size fractionation of single stranded DNA (ssDNA). Homologous fragments are hybridized in the absence of polymerase to a complementary ssDNA scaffold. Any overlapping unhybridized fragment ends are trimmed down by an exonuclease. Gaps between fragments are filled in and then ligated to give a pool of full-length diverse strands hybridized to the scaffold, which contains U to preclude amplification. The scaffold then is destroyed and is replaced by a new strand complementary to the diverse strand by PCR amplification. The method involves one strand (scaffold) that is from only one parent while the priming fragments derive from other genes; the parent scaffold is selected against. Thus, no reannealing with parental fragments occurs. Overlapping fragments are trimmed with an exonuclease. Otherwise, this is conceptually similar to DNA shuffling and StEP. Therefore, there should be no siblings, few inactives, and no unshuffled estoste. This technique has advantages in that few or no parental genes are created and many more crossovers can result relative to standard DNA shuffling.

Recombined Extension on Truncated templates (RETT) entails template switching of unidirectionally growing strands from primers in the presence of unidirectional ssDNA fragments used as a pool of templates (Lee et al., J. Molec. Catalysis 26:119-129 (2003)). No DNA endonucleases are used. Unidirectional ssDNA is made by DNA polymerase with random primers or serial deletion with exonuclease. Unidirectional ssDNA are only templates and not primers. Random priming and exonucleases do not introduce sequence bias as true of enzymatic cleavage of DNA shuffling/RACHITT. RETT can be easier to optimize than StEP because it uses normal PCR conditions instead of very short extensions. Recombination occurs as a component of the PCR steps, that is, no direct shuffling. This method can also be more random than StEP due to the absence of pauses.

In Degenerate Oligonucleotide Gene Shuffling (DOGS) degenerate primers are used to control recombination between molecules; (Bergquist and Gibbs, Methods Mol. Biol. 352:191-204 (2007); Bergquist et al., Biomol. Eng 22:63-72 (2005); Gibbs et al., Gene 271:13-20 (2001)) this can be used to control the tendency of other methods such as DNA shuffling to regenerate parental genes. This method can be combined with random mutagenesis (epPCR) of selected gene segments. This can be a good method to block the reformation of parental sequences. No endonucleases are needed. By adjusting input concentrations of segments made, one can bias towards a desired backbone. This method allows DNA shuffling from unrelated parents without restriction enzyme digests and allows a choice of random mutagenesis methods.

Incremental Truncation for the Creation of Hybrid Enzymes (ITCHY) creates a combinatorial library with 1 base pair deletions of a gene or gene fragment of interest (Ostermeier et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:3562-3567 (1999); and Ostermeier et al., Nat. Biotechnol. 17:1205-1209 (1999)). Truncations are introduced in opposite direction on pieces of 2 different genes. These are ligated together and the fusions are cloned. This technique does not require homology between the 2 parental genes. When ITCHY is combined with DNA shuffling, the system is called SCRATCHY (see below). A major advantage of both is no need for homology between parental genes; for example, functional fusions between an E. coli and a human gene were created via ITCHY. When ITCHY libraries are made, all possible crossovers are captured.

Thio-Incremental Truncation for the Creation of Hybrid Enzymes (THIO-ITCHY) is similar to ITCHY except that phosphothioate dNTPs are used to generate truncations (Lutz et al., Nucleic Acids Res 29:E16 (2001)). Relative to ITCHY, THIO-ITCHY can be easier to optimize, provide more reproducibility, and adjustability.

SCRATCHY combines two methods for recombining genes, ITCHY and DNA shuffling (Lutz et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98:11248-11253 (2001)). SCRATCHY combines the best features of ITCHY and DNA shuffling. First, ITCHY is used to create a comprehensive set of fusions between fragments of genes in a DNA homology-independent fashion. This artificial family is then subjected to a DNA-shuffling step to augment the number of crossovers. Computational predictions can be used in optimization. SCRATCHY is more effective than DNA shuffling when sequence identity is below 80%.

In Random Drift Mutagenesis (RNDM) mutations are made via epPCR followed by screening/selection for those retaining usable activity (Bergquist et al., Biomol. Eng. 22:63-72 (2005)). Then, these are used in DOGS to generate recombinants with fusions between multiple active mutants or between active mutants and some other desirable parent. Designed to promote isolation of neutral mutations; its purpose is to screen for retained catalytic activity whether or not this activity is higher or lower than in the original gene. RNDM is usable in high throughput assays when screening is capable of detecting activity above background. RNDM has been used as a front end to DOGS in generating diversity. The technique imposes a requirement for activity prior to shuffling or other subsequent steps; neutral drift libraries are indicated to result in higher/quicker improvements in activity from smaller libraries. Though published using epPCR, this could be applied to other large-scale mutagenesis methods.

Sequence Saturation Mutagenesis (SeSaM) is a random mutagenesis method that: 1) generates a pool of random length fragments using random incorporation of a phosphothioate nucleotide and cleavage; this pool is used as a template to 2) extend in the presence of “universal” bases such as inosine; 3) replication of an inosine-containing complement gives random base incorporation and, consequently, mutagenesis (Wong et al., Biotechnol. J. 3:74-82 (2008); Wong et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 32:e26 (2004); and Wong et al., Anal. Biochem. 341:187-189 (2005)). Using this technique it can be possible to generate a large library of mutants within 2 to 3 days using simple methods. This technique is non-directed in comparison to the mutational bias of DNA polymerases. Differences in this approach makes this technique complementary (or an alternative) to epPCR.

In Synthetic Shuffling, overlapping oligonucleotides are designed to encode “all genetic diversity in targets” and allow a very high diversity for the shuffled progeny (Ness et al., Nat. Biotechnol. 20:1251-1255 (2002)). In this technique, one can design the fragments to be shuffled. This aids in increasing the resulting diversity of the progeny. One can design sequence/codon biases to make more distantly related sequences recombine at rates approaching those observed with more closely related sequences. Additionally, the technique does not require physically possessing the template genes.

Nucleotide Exchange and Excision Technology NexT exploits a combination of dUTP incorporation followed by treatment with uracil DNA glycosylase and then piperidine to perform endpoint DNA fragmentation (Muller et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 33:e117 (2005)). The gene is reassembled using internal PCR primer extension with proofreading polymerase. The sizes for shuffling are directly controllable using varying dUPT::dTTP ratios. This is an end point reaction using simple methods for uracil incorporation and cleavage. Other nucleotide analogs, such as 8-oxo-guanine, can be used with this method. Additionally, the technique works well with very short fragments (86 bp) and has a low error rate. The chemical cleavage of DNA used in this technique results in very few unshuffled clones.

In Sequence Homology-Independent Protein Recombination (SHIPREC), a linker is used to facilitate fusion between two distantly related or unrelated genes. Nuclease treatment is used to generate a range of chimeras between the two genes. These fusions result in libraries of single-crossover hybrids (Sieber et al., Nat. Biotechnol. 19:456-460 (2001)). This produces a limited type of shuffling and a separate process is required for mutagenesis. In addition, since no homology is needed, this technique can create a library of chimeras with varying fractions of each of the two unrelated parent genes. SHIPREC was tested with a heme-binding domain of a bacterial CP450 fused to N-terminal regions of a mammalian CP450; this produced mammalian activity in a more soluble enzyme.

In Gene Site Saturation Mutagenesis™ (GSSM™) the starting materials are a supercoiled dsDNA plasmid containing an insert and two primers which are degenerate at the desired site of mutations (Kretz et al., Methods Enzymol. 388:3-11 (2004)). Primers carrying the mutation of interest, anneal to the same sequence on opposite strands of DNA. The mutation is typically in the middle of the primer and flanked on each side by approximately 20 nucleotides of correct sequence. The sequence in the primer is NNN or NNK (coding) and MNN (noncoding) (N=all 4, K=G, T, M=A, C). After extension, DpnI is used to digest dam-methylated DNA to eliminate the wild-type template. This technique explores all possible amino acid substitutions at a given locus (that is, one codon). The technique facilitates the generation of all possible replacements at a single-site with no nonsense codons and results in equal to near-equal representation of most possible alleles. This technique does not require prior knowledge of the structure, mechanism, or domains of the target enzyme. If followed by shuffling or Gene Reassembly, this technology creates a diverse library of recombinants containing all possible combinations of single-site up-mutations. The usefulness of this technology combination has been demonstrated for the successful evolution of over 50 different enzymes, and also for more than one property in a given enzyme.

Combinatorial Cassette Mutagenesis (CCM) involves the use of short oligonucleotide cassettes to replace limited regions with a large number of possible amino acid sequence alterations (Reidhaar-Olson et al. Methods Enzymol. 208:564-586 (1991); and Reidhaar-Olson et al. Science 241:53-57 (1988)). Simultaneous substitutions at two or three sites are possible using this technique. Additionally, the method tests a large multiplicity of possible sequence changes at a limited range of sites. This technique has been used to explore the information content of the lambda repressor DNA-binding domain.

Combinatorial Multiple Cassette Mutagenesis (CMCM) is essentially similar to CCM except it is employed as part of a larger program: 1) use of epPCR at high mutation rate to 2) identify hot spots and hot regions and then 3) extension by CMCM to cover a defined region of protein sequence space (Reetz et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed Engl. 40:3589-3591 (2001)). As with CCM, this method can test virtually all possible alterations over a target region. If used along with methods to create random mutations and shuffled genes, it provides an excellent means of generating diverse, shuffled proteins. This approach was successful in increasing, by 51-fold, the enantioselectivity of an enzyme.

In the Mutator Strains technique, conditional ts mutator plasmids allow increases of 20 to 4000-X in random and natural mutation frequency during selection and block accumulation of deleterious mutations when selection is not required (Selifonova et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67:3645-3649 (2001)). This technology is based on a plasmid-derived mutD5 gene, which encodes a mutant subunit of DNA polymerase III. This subunit binds to endogenous DNA polymerase III and compromises the proofreading ability of polymerase III in any strain that harbors the plasmid. A broad-spectrum of base substitutions and frameshift mutations occur. In order for effective use, the mutator plasmid should be removed once the desired phenotype is achieved; this is accomplished through a temperature sensitive (ts) origin of replication, which allows for plasmid curing at 41° C. It should be noted that mutator strains have been explored for quite some time (see Low et al., J. Mol. Biol. 260:359-3680 (1996)). In this technique, very high spontaneous mutation rates are observed. The conditional property minimizes non-desired background mutations. This technology could be combined with adaptive evolution to enhance mutagenesis rates and more rapidly achieve desired phenotypes.

Look-Through Mutagenesis (LTM) is a multidimensional mutagenesis method that assesses and optimizes combinatorial mutations of selected amino acids (Rajpal et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102:8466-8471 (2005)). Rather than saturating each site with all possible amino acid changes, a set of nine is chosen to cover the range of amino acid R-group chemistry. Fewer changes per site allows multiple sites to be subjected to this type of mutagenesis. A >800-fold increase in binding affinity for an antibody from low nanomolar to picomolar has been achieved through this method. This is a rational approach to minimize the number of random combinations and can increase the ability to find improved traits by greatly decreasing the numbers of clones to be screened. This has been applied to antibody engineering, specifically to increase the binding affinity and/or reduce dissociation. The technique can be combined with either screens or selections.

Gene Reassembly is a DNA shuffling method that can be applied to multiple genes at one time or to create a large library of chimeras (multiple mutations) of a single gene (Tunable GeneReassembly™ (TGR™) Technology supplied by Verenium Corporation). Typically this technology is used in combination with ultra-high-throughput screening to query the represented sequence space for desired improvements. This technique allows multiple gene recombination independent of homology. The exact number and position of cross-over events can be pre-determined using fragments designed via bioinformatic analysis. This technology leads to a very high level of diversity with virtually no parental gene reformation and a low level of inactive genes. Combined with GSSM™, a large range of mutations can be tested for improved activity. The method allows “blending” and “fine tuning” of DNA shuffling, for example, codon usage can be optimized.

In Silico Protein Design Automation (PDA) is an optimization algorithm that anchors the structurally defined protein backbone possessing a particular fold, and searches sequence space for amino acid substitutions that can stabilize the fold and overall protein energetics (Hayes et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:15926-15931 (2002)). This technology uses in silico structure-based entropy predictions in order to search for structural tolerance toward protein amino acid variations. Statistical mechanics is applied to calculate coupling interactions at each position. Structural tolerance toward amino acid substitution is a measure of coupling. Ultimately, this technology is designed to yield desired modifications of protein properties while maintaining the integrity of structural characteristics. The method computationally assesses and allows filtering of a very large number of possible sequence variants (10⁵⁰). The choice of sequence variants to test is related to predictions based on the most favorable thermodynamics. Ostensibly only stability or properties that are linked to stability can be effectively addressed with this technology. The method has been successfully used in some therapeutic proteins, especially in engineering immunoglobulins. In silico predictions avoid testing extraordinarily large numbers of potential variants. Predictions based on existing three-dimensional structures are more likely to succeed than predictions based on hypothetical structures. This technology can readily predict and allow targeted screening of multiple simultaneous mutations, something not possible with purely experimental technologies due to exponential increases in numbers.

Iterative Saturation Mutagenesis (ISM) involves: 1) using knowledge of structure/function to choose a likely site for enzyme improvement; 2) performing saturation mutagenesis at chosen site using a mutagenesis method such as Stratagene QuikChange (Stratagene; San Diego Calif.); 3) screening/selecting for desired properties; and 4) using improved clone(s), start over at another site and continue repeating until a desired activity is achieved (Reetz et al., Nat. Protoc. 2:891-903 (2007); and Reetz et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed Engl. 45:7745-7751 (2006)). This is a proven methodology, which assures all possible replacements at a given position are made for screening/selection.

Any of the aforementioned methods for mutagenesis can be used alone or in any combination. Additionally, any one or combination of the directed evolution methods can be used in conjunction with adaptive evolution techniques, as described herein.

It is understood that modifications which do not substantially affect the activity of the various embodiments of this invention are also provided within the definition of the invention provided herein. Accordingly, the following examples are intended to illustrate but not limit the present invention.

Example I Pathways for Producing Propylene from 2-Ketoglutarate or Pyruvate

Disclosed herein are novel processes for the direct production of propylene using engineered non-natural microorganisms that possess the enzymes necessary for conversion of common metabolites into the three carbon alkene, propylene. Direct production of propylene entails use of the well-known ethylene forming enzyme (EFE), which has been isolated and characterized from, for example, pathovars of the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae and shown to convert 2-ketoglutarate into ethylene and carbon dioxide (FIG. 1). The EFE enzyme or a variant of EFE is used for conversion of 3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate or 4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate into propylene and carbon dioxide in a manner analogous to the conversion of 2-ketoglutarate (step 2 of FIG. 2 and step F of FIG. 3). Thus we refer this enzyme herein as propylene forming enzyme (PFE). The intermediate 3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate can be formed directly from 2-ketoglutarate through an S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase enzyme such as that encoded by, for example, the gene glmT in Streptomyces frudiae and other organisms (step 1 of FIG. 2). Alternatively, it can be formed from leucine or acetoacetate and acetyl-CoA as depicted in FIG. 4. The intermediate 4-methyl-2-oxo-glutarate can be formed through aldolase-catalyzed transformation of pyruvate to 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate, followed by dehydration with the enzyme or variant of malate dehydratase and subsequent reduction with an enoate reductase or with an enzyme or variant of fumarate reductase (steps A-E of FIG. 3). Alternatively, it can be formed from lysine depicted in FIG. 5. Enzyme candidates for steps 1 and 2 of FIG. 2 and steps A-F of FIG. 3 are provided below.

Step 1 of FIG. 2 depicts 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase which catalyzes the methylation of 2-ketoglutarate to form 3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate. Such activity can be obtained using enzymes encoded by glmT from Streptomyces coelicolor, dptl from Streptomyces roseosporus, and lptI from Streptomyces fradiae (Mahlert et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2007, 129 (39), 12011-12018).

GenBank Gene Accession No. GI Number Organism glmT NP_627429.1 21221650 Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) dptI ZP_04706744.1 239986080 Streptomyces roseosporus NRRL 11379 lptI AAZ23087.1 71068232 Streptomyces fradiae

Several candidate genes are likely to naturally exhibit PFE activity on either 3-methyl-2-ketoglutarate (step 2, FIG. 2) or 4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate (step F, FIG. 3). If not, they can be engineered to exhibit PFE activity on these substrates. Candidate genes include EFEs from various strains of Pseudomonas syringae and Ralstonia solanacearum (Fukuda et al., Biochem Biophys Res Comm, 1992, 188 (2), 826-832; Tao et al., Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 2008, 80(4):573-8; Chen et al., Int J of Biol Sci, 2010, 6(1):96-106; Weingart et al., Phytopathology, 1999, 89:360-365).

GenBank Gene Accession No. GI Number Organism Efe BAA02477.1 216878 Pseudomonas syringae pv. Phaseolicola PK2 Efe AAD16443.1 4323603 Pseudomonas syringae pv. Pisi Efe Q7BS32.1 50897474 Pseudomonas syringae pv. Glycinea Efe CAD18680.1 17432003 Ralstonia solanacearum

Step A of FIG. 3 depicts 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase which catalyzes the condensation of two pyruvate molecules to form 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate. Genes from the following organisms encoded enzymes that catalyze 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase: Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1 (Maruyama et al., Biosci Biotechnol Biochem, 2001, 65(12):2701-2709), Pseudomonas putida (Dagley, Methods Enzymol, 1982, 90:272-276), and Pseudomonas estosterone (or Comamonas estosterone) (Providenti et al., Microbiology, 2001 147 (Pt 8), 2157-2167), and Arachis hypogaea.

GenBank Gene Accession No. GI Number Organism proA BAB21456.3 13094205 Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1 Pput_1361 ABQ77519.1 148510659 Pseudomonas putida F1 Pput_3204 ABQ79330.1 148512470 Pseudomonas putida F1 CtCNB1_2744 YP_003278786.1 264678879 Comamonas testosteroni

Step D of FIG. 3 depicts 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I which dehydrates 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate to form 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate. Step B of FIG. 3 depicts 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II which dehydrates 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate to form 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate. Various classes of dehydratases can be applied to catalyze these transformations. Specific examples are provided below and several additional dehydratase enzymes in the EC 4.2.1 can be alternatively utilized.

For example, one enzyme that catalyzes a similar transformation is citramalate hydrolyase (EC 4.2.1.34), an enzyme that naturally dehydrates 2-methylmalate to mesaconate. This enzyme has been studied in Methanocaldococcus jannaschii in the context of the pyruvate pathway to 2-oxobutanoate, where it has been shown to have a broad substrate specificity (Drevland et al., J. Bacteriol. 189:4391-4400 (2007)). This enzyme activity was also detected in Clostridium tetanomorphum, Morganella morganii, Citrobacter amalonaticus where it is thought to participate in glutamate degradation (Kato and Asano Arch. Microbiol. 168:457-463 (1997)). The M. jannaschii protein sequence does not bear significant homology to genes in these organisms. Genbank information related to this gene is summarized below.

GenBank Gene Accession No. GI Number Organism leuD 3122345 Q58673.1 Methanocaldococcus jannaschii

Another useful enzyme is fumarate hydratase (EC 4.2.1.2), also known as fumarase, that catalyzes the reversible hydration of fumarate to malate. The three fumarases of E. coli, encoded by fumA, fumB and fumC, are regulated under different conditions of oxygen availability. FumB is oxygen sensitive and is active under anaerobic conditions. FumA is active under microanaerobic conditions, and FumC is active under aerobic growth conditions (Tseng et al., J. Bacteriol. 183:461-467 (2001); Woods et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 954:14-26 (1988); Guest et al., J. Gen. Microbiol. 131:2971-2984 (1985)). S. cerevisiae contains one copy of a fumarase-encoding gene, FUM1, whose product localizes to both the cytosol and mitochondrion (Sass et al., J. Biol. Chem. 278:45109-45116 (2003)). Additional fumarase enzymes are found in Campylobacter jejuni (Smith et al., Int. J. Biochem. Cell. Biol. 31:961-975 (1999)), Thermus thermophilus (Mizobata et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 355:49-55 (1998)) and Rattus norvegicus (Kobayashi et al., J. Biochem. 89:1923-1931 (1981)). Similar enzymes with high sequence homology include fum1 from Arabidopsis thaliana and fumC from Corynebacterium glutamicum. The MmcBC fumarase from Pelotomaculum thermopropionicum is another class of fumarase with two subunits (Shimoyama et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 270:207-213 (2007)). Genbank information related to these genes is summarized below.

GenBank Gene Accession No. GI Number Organism fumA NP_416129.1 16129570 Escherichia coli fumB NP_418546.1 16131948 Escherichia coli fumC NP_416128.1 16129569 Escherichia coli FUM1 NP_015061 6324993 Saccharomyces cerevisiae fumC Q8NRN8.1 39931596 Corynebacterium glutamicum fumC O69294.1 9789756 Campylobacter jejuni fumC P84127 75427690 Thermus thermophilus fumH P14408.1 120605 Rattus norvegicus MmcB YP_001211906 147677691 Pelotomaculum thermopropionicum MmcC YP_001211907 147677692 Pelotomaculum thermopropionicum

The enzyme OHED hydratase participates in 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid degradation, where it converts 2-oxo-hept-4-ene-1,7-dioate (OHED) to 2-oxo-4-hydroxy-hepta-1,7-dioate (HODH) using magnesium as a cofactor (Burks et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 120 (1998). OHED hydratase enzymes have been identified and characterized in E. coli C (Izumi et la., J. Mol. Biol. 370:899-911 (2007); Roper et al., Gene 156:47-51 (1995)) and E. coli W (Prieto et al., J. Bacteriol. 178:111-120 (1996)). Sequence comparison reveals homologs in a range of bacteria, plants and animals. Enzymes with highly similar sequences are contained in Klebsiella pneumonia (91% identity, evalue=2e−138) and Salmonella estost (91% identity, evalue=4e−138), among others. Genbank information related to these genes is summarized below.

GenBank Gene Accession No. GI Number Organism hpcG CAA57202.1 556840 Escherichia coli C hpaH CAA86044.1 757830 Escherichia coli W hpaH ABR80130.1 150958100 Klebsiella pneumoniae Sari_01896 ABX21779.1 160865156 Salmonella enterica

Yet another enzyme catalyzing a dehydration similar to step D of FIG. 3 is 2-(hydroxymethyl)glutarate dehydratase of Eubacterium barkeri. This enzyme has been studied in the context of nicotinate catabolism and is encoded by hmd (Alhapel et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103:12341-12346 (2006)). Similar enzymes with high sequence homology are found in Bacteroides capillosus and Anaerotruncus colihominis. These enzymes are also homologous to the α- and β-subunits of [4Fe-4S]-containing bacterial serine dehydratases, for example, E. coli enzymes encoded by tdcG, sdhB, and sdaA). Genbank information related to these genes is summarized below.

GenBank Accession Gene No. GI Number Organism hmd ABC88407.1 86278275 Eubacterium barkeri BACCAP_02294 ZP_02036683.1 154498305 Bacteroides capillosus ATCC 29799 ANACOL_02527 ZP_02443222.1 167771169 Anaerotruncus colihominis DSM 17241

Another gene capable of encoding a dehydratase enzyme for step B or step D of FIG. 3 is 4-oxalomesaconate hydratase (or 4-carboxy-4-hydroxy-2-ketoadipate dehydratase). Exemplary enzymes can be found in Comamonas estosterone (Providenti et al., Microbiology, 2001, 147(Pt 8); 2157-67), Sphingomonas sp. SYK6 (Hara, et al., J Bacteriol, 2000, 182(24); 6950-7), and Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1 (Maruyama et al., Biosci Biotechnol Biochem, 2001 65(12); 2701-9; Maruyama et al., Biosci Biotechnol Biochem, 2004, 68(7); 1434-41).

GenBank Gene Accession No. GI Number Organism pmdE YP_003278787.1 264678880 Comamonas testosteroni ligJ BAA97116.1 8777583 Sphingomonas sp. SYK6 proH BAB21455.1 12539404 Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1

Step C of FIG. 3 depicts 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase which reduces 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase to form 4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate. Step E of FIG. 3 depicts 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase which reduces 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate to form 4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate. Various classes of enoate reductases can be applied to catalyze these transformations. Specific examples are provided below and several additional enoate reductase enzymes in the EC 1.3.1 can be alternatively utilized.

2-Enoate oxidoreductase enzymes are known to catalyze the NAD(P)H-dependent reduction and oxidation of a wide variety of α, β-unsaturated carboxylic acids and aldehydes (Rohdich et al., J. Biol. Chem. 276:5779-5787 (2001)). In the recently published genome sequence of C. kluyveri, 9 coding sequences for enoate reductases were reported, out of which one has been characterized (Seedorf et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105:2128-2133 (2008)). The enr genes from both C. tyrobutyricum and M. thermoaceticum have been cloned and sequenced and show 59% identity to each other. The former gene is also found to have approximately 75% similarity to the characterized gene in C. kluyveri (Giesel and Simon, Arch. Microbiol. 135:51-57 (1983)). It has been reported based on these sequence results that enr is very similar to the dienoyl CoA reductase in E. coli (fades) (Rohdich et al., J. Biol. Chem. 276:5779-5787 (2001)). The C. thermoaceticum enr gene has also been expressed in a catalytically active form in E. coli (Rohdich et al., supra). Genbank information related to these genes is summarized below.

GenBank Gene Accession No. GI Number Organism enr ACA54153.1 169405742 Clostridium botulinum A3 str enr CAA71086.1 2765041 Clostridium tyrobutyricum enr CAA76083.1 3402834 Clostridium kluyveri enr YP_430895.1 83590886 Moorella thermoacetica fadH NP_417552.1 16130976 Escherichia coli

MAR is a 2-enoate oxidoreductase catalyzing the reversible reduction of 2-maleylacetate (cis-4-oxohex-2-enedioate) to 3-oxoadipate (FIG. 2, Step O). MAR enzymes naturally participate in aromatic degradation pathways (Camara et al., J. Bacteriol. 191:4905-4915 (2009); Huang et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72:7238-7245 (2006); Kaschabek and Reineke, J. Bacteriol. 177:320-325 (1995); Kaschabek and Reineke, J. Bacteriol. 175:6075-6081 (1993)). The enzyme activity was identified and characterized in Pseudomonas sp. Strain B13 (Kaschabek and Reineke, (1995) supra; Kaschabek and Reineke, (1993) supra), and the coding gene was cloned and sequenced (Kasberg et al., J. Bacteriol. 179:3801-3803 (1997)). Additional MAR genes include cicE gene from Pseudomonas sp. Strain B13 (Kasberg et al., supra), macA gene from Rhodococcus opacus (Seibert et al., J. Bacteriol. 175:6745-6754 (1993)), the macA gene from Ralstonia eutropha (also known as Cupriavidus necator) (Seibert et al., Microbiology 150:463-472 (2004)), tfdFII from Ralstonia eutropha (Seibert et al., (1993) supra) and NCgl1112 in Corynebacterium glutamicum (Huang et al., Appl. Environ Microbiol. 72:7238-7245 (2006)). A MAR in Pseudomonas reinekei MT1, encoded by ccaD, was recently identified and the nucleotide sequence is available under the DBJ/EMBL GenBank accession number EF159980 (Camara et al., J. Bacteriol. 191:4905-4915 (2009). Genbank information related to these genes is summarized below.

GenBank Accession Gene No. GI Number Organism clcE O30847.1 3913241 Pseudomonas sp. Strain B13 macA O84992.1 7387876 Rhodococcus opacus macA AAD55886 5916089 Cupriavidus necator tfdFII AC44727.1 1747424 Ralstonia eutropha JMP134 NCgl1112 NP_600385 19552383 Corynebacterium glutamicum ccaD EF159980.1 134133935 Pseudomonas reinekei MT1

Fumarate reductase catalyzes the reduction of fumarate to succinate. The fumarate reductase of E. coli, composed of four subunits encoded byfrdABCD, is membrane-bound and active under anaerobic conditions. The electron donor for this reaction is menaquinone and the two protons produced in this reaction do not contribute to the proton gradient (Iverson et al., Science 284:1961-1966 (1999)). The yeast genome encodes two soluble fumarate reductase isozymes encoded by FRDS1 (Enomoto et al., DNA Res. 3:263-267 (1996)) and FRDS2 (Muratsubaki et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 352:175-181 (1998)), which localize to the cytosol and promitochondrion, respectively, and are used for anaerobic growth on glucose (Arikawa et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 165:111-116 (1998)).

GenBank Protein Accession No. GI Number Organism FRDS1 P32614 418423 Saccharomyces cerevisiae FRDS2 NP_012585 6322511 Saccharomyces cerevisiae frdA NP_418578.1 16131979 Escherichia coli frdB NP_418577.1 16131978 Escherichia coli frdC NP_418576.1 16131977 Escherichia coli frdD NP_418475.1 16131877 Escherichia coli

Example II Exemplary Hydrogenase and CO Dehydrogenase Enzymes for Extracting Reducing Equivalents from Syngas and Exemplary Reductive TCA Cycle Enzymes

Enzymes of the reductive TCA cycle useful in the non-naturally occurring microbial organisms of the present invention include one or more of ATP-citrate lyase and three CO₂-fixing enzymes: isocitrate dehydrogenase, alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase. The presence of ATP-citrate lyase or citrate lyase and alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase indicates the presence of an active reductive TCA cycle in an organism. Enzymes for each step of the reductive TCA cycle are shown below.

ATP-citrate lyase (ACL, EC 2.3.3.8), also called ATP citrate synthase, catalyzes the ATP-dependent cleavage of citrate to oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA. ACL is an enzyme of the RTCA cycle that has been studied in green sulfur bacteria Chlorobium limicola and Chlorobium tepidum. The alpha(4)beta(4) heteromeric enzyme from Chlorobium limicola was cloned and characterized in E. coli (Kanao et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 269:3409-3416 (2002). The C. limicola enzyme, encoded by aclAB, is irreversible and activity of the enzyme is regulated by the ratio of ADP/ATP. A recombinant ACL from Chlorobium tepidum was also expressed in E. coli and the holoenzyme was reconstituted in vitro, in a study elucidating the role of the alpha and beta subunits in the catalytic mechanism (Kim and Tabita, J. Bacteriol. 188:6544-6552 (2006). ACL enzymes have also been identified in Balnearium lithotrophicum, Sulfurihydrogenibium subterraneum and other members of the bacterial phylum Aquificae (Hugler et al., Environ. Microbiol. 9:81-92 (2007)). This acitivy has been reported in some fungi as well. Exemplary organisms include Sordaria macrospora (Nowrousian et al., Curr. Genet. 37:189-93 (2000), Aspergillus nidulans, Yarrowia lipolytica (Hynes and Murray, Eukaryotic Cell, July: 1039-1048, (2010) and Aspergillus niger (Meijer et al. J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 36:1275-1280 (2009). Other candidates can be found based on sequence homology. Information related to these enzymes is tabulated below:

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism aclA BAB21376.1 12407237 Chlorobium limicola aclB BAB21375.1 12407235 Chlorobium limicola aclA AAM72321.1 21647054 Chlorobium tepidum aclB AAM72322.1 21647055 Chlorobium tepidum aclA ABI50076.1 114054981 Balnearium lithotrophicum aclB ABI50075.1 114054980 Balnearium lithotrophicum aclA ABI50085.1 114055040 Sulfurihydrogenibium subterraneum aclB ABI50084.1 114055039 Sulfurihydrogenibium subterraneum aclA AAX76834.1 62199504 Sulfurimonas denitrificans aclB AAX76835.1 62199506 Sulfurimonas denitrificans acl1 XP_504787.1 50554757 Yarrowia lipolytica acl2 XP_503231.1 50551515 Yarrowia lipolytica SPBC1703.07 NP_596202.1 19112994 Schizosaccharomyces pombe SPAC22A12.16 NP_593246.1 19114158 Schizosaccharomyces pombe acl1 CAB76165.1 7160185 Sordaria macrospora acl2 CAB76164.1 7160184 Sordaria macrospora aclA CBF86850.1 259487849 Aspergillus nidulans aclB CBF86848 259487848 Aspergillus nidulans

In some organisms the conversion of citrate to oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA proceeds through a citryl-CoA intermediate and is catalyzed by two separate enzymes, citryl-CoA synthetase (EC 6.2.1.18) and citryl-CoA lyase (EC 4.1.3.34) (Aoshima, M., Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 75:249-255 (2007). Citryl-CoA synthetase catalyzes the activation of citrate to citryl-CoA. The Hydrogenobacter thermophilus enzyme is composed of large and small subunits encoded by ccsA and ccsB, respectively (Aoshima et al., Mol. Micrbiol. 52:751-761 (2004)). The citryl-CoA synthetase of Aquifex aeolicus is composed of alpha and beta subunits encoded by sucC1 and sucD1 (Hugler et al., Environ. Microbiol. 9:81-92 (2007)). Citryl-CoA lyase splits citryl-CoA into oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA. This enzyme is a homotrimer encoded by ccl in Hydrogenobacter thermophilus (Aoshima et al., Mol. Microbiol. 52:763-770 (2004)) and aq_(—)150 in Aquifex aeolicus (Hugler et al., supra (2007)). The genes for this mechanism of converting citrate to oxaloacetate and citryl-CoA have also been reported recently in Chlorobium tepidum (Eisen et al., PNAS 99(14): 9509-14 (2002).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism ccsA BAD17844.1 46849514 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus ccsB BAD17846.1 46849517 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus sucC1 AAC07285 2983723 Aquifex aeolicus sucD1 AAC07686 2984152 Aquifex aeolicus ccl BAD17841.1 46849510 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus aq_150 AAC06486 2982866 Aquifex aeolicus CT0380 NP_661284 21673219 Chlorobium tepidum CT0269 NP_661173.1 21673108 Chlorobium tepidum CT1834 AAM73055.1 21647851 Chlorobium tepidum

Oxaloacetate is converted into malate by malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.37), an enzyme which functions in both the forward and reverse direction. S. cerevisiae possesses three copies of malate dehydrogenase, MDH1 (McAlister-Henn and Thompson, J. Bacteriol. 169:5157-5166 (1987), MDH2 (Minard and McAlister-Henn, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:370-380 (1991); Gibson and McAlister-Henn, J. Biol. Chem. 278:25628-25636 (2003)), and MDH3 (Steffan and McAlister-Henn, J. Biol. Chem. 267:24708-24715 (1992)), which localize to the mitochondrion, cytosol, and peroxisome, respectively. E. coli is known to have an active malate dehydrogenase encoded by mdh.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism MDH1 NP_012838 6322765 Saccharomyces cerevisiae MDH2 NP_014515 116006499 Saccharomyces cerevisiae MDH3 NP_010205 6320125 Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mdh NP_417703.1 16131126 Escherichia coli

Fumarate hydratase (EC 4.2.1.2) catalyzes the reversible hydration of fumarate to malate. The three fumarases of E. coli, encoded by fumA, fumB and fumC, are regulated under different conditions of oxygen availability. FumB is oxygen sensitive and is active under anaerobic conditions. FumA is active under microanaerobic conditions, and FumC is active under aerobic growth conditions (Tseng et al., J. Bacteriol. 183:461-467 (2001); Woods et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 954:14-26 (1988); Guest et al., J. Gen. Microbiol. 131:2971-2984 (1985)). S. cerevisiae contains one copy of a fumarase-encoding gene, FUM1, whose product localizes to both the cytosol and mitochondrion (Sass et al., J. Biol. Chem. 278:45109-45116 (2003)). Additional fumarase enzymes are found in Campylobacter jejuni (Smith et al., Int. J. Biochem. Cell. Biol. 31:961-975 (1999)), Thermus thermophilus (Mizobata et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 355:49-55 (1998)) and Rattus norvegicus (Kobayashi et al., J. Biochem. 89:1923-1931 (1981)). Similar enzymes with high sequence homology include fum1 from Arabidopsis thaliana and fumC from Corynebacterium glutamicum. The MmcBC fumarase from Pelotomaculum thermopropionicum is another class of fumarase with two subunits (Shimoyama et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 270:207-213 (2007)).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism fumA NP_416129.1 16129570 Escherichia coli fumB NP_418546.1 16131948 Escherichia coli fumC NP_416128.1 16129569 Escherichia coli FUM1 NP_015061 6324993 Saccharomyces cerevisiae fumC Q8NRN8.1 39931596 Corynebacterium glutamicum fumC O69294.1 9789756 Campylobacter jejuni fumC P84127 75427690 Thermus thermophilus fumH P14408.1 120605 Rattus norvegicus MmcB YP_001211906 147677691 Pelotomaculum thermopropionicum MmcC YP_001211907 147677692 Pelotomaculum thermopropionicum

Fumarate reductase catalyzes the reduction of fumarate to succinate. The fumarate reductase of E. coli, composed of four subunits encoded byfrdABCD, is membrane-bound and active under anaerobic conditions. The electron donor for this reaction is menaquinone and the two protons produced in this reaction do not contribute to the proton gradient (Iverson et al., Science 284:1961-1966 (1999)). The yeast genome encodes two soluble fumarate reductase isozymes encoded by FRDS1 (Enomoto et al., DNA Res. 3:263-267 (1996)) and FRDS2 (Muratsubaki et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 352:175-181 (1998)), which localize to the cytosol and promitochondrion, respectively, and are used during anaerobic growth on glucose (Arikawa et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 165:111-116 (1998)).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism FRDS1 P32614 418423 Saccharomyces cerevisiae FRDS2 NP_012585 6322511 Saccharomyces cerevisiae frdA NP_418578.1 16131979 Escherichia coli frdB NP_418577.1 16131978 Escherichia coli frdC NP_418576.1 16131977 Escherichia coli frdD NP_418475.1 16131877 Escherichia coli

The ATP-dependent acylation of succinate to succinyl-CoA is catalyzed by succinyl-CoA synthetase (EC 6.2.1.5). The product of the LSC1 and LSC2 genes of S. cerevisiae and the sucC and sucD genes of E. coli naturally form a succinyl-CoA synthetase complex that catalyzes the formation of succinyl-CoA from succinate with the concomitant consumption of one ATP, a reaction which is reversible in vivo (Buck et al., Biochemistry 24:6245-6252 (1985)). These proteins are identified below:

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism LSC1 NP_014785 6324716 Saccharomyces cerevisiae LSC2 NP_011760 6321683 Saccharomyces cerevisiae sucC NP_415256.1 16128703 Escherichia coli sucD AAC73823.1 1786949 Escherichia coli

Alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (EC 1.2.7.3), also known as 2-oxoglutarate synthase or 2-oxoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (OFOR), forms alpha-ketoglutarate from CO2 and succinyl-CoA with concurrent consumption of two reduced ferredoxin equivalents. OFOR and pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR) are members of a diverse family of 2-oxoacid:ferredoxin (flavodoxin) oxidoreductases which utilize thiamine pyrophosphate, CoA and iron-sulfur clusters as cofactors and ferredoxin, flavodoxin and FAD as electron carriers (Adams et al., Archaea. Adv. Protein Chem. 48:101-180 (1996)). Enzymes in this class are reversible and function in the carboxylation direction in organisms that fix carbon by the RTCA cycle such as Hydrogenobacter thermophilus, Desulfobacter hydrogenophilus and Chlorobium species (Shiba et al. 1985; Evans et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. ScI. U.S.A. 55:92934 (1966); Buchanan, 1971). The two-subunit enzyme from H. thermophilus, encoded by korAB, has been cloned and expressed in E. coli (Yun et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 282:589-594 (2001)). A five subunit OFOR from the same organism with strict substrate specificity for succinyl-CoA, encoded byforDABGE, was recently identified and expressed in E. coli (Yun et al. 2002). The kinetics of CO2 fixation of both H. thermophilus OFOR enzymes have been characterized (Yamamoto et al., Extremophiles 14:79-85 (2010)). A CO2-fixing OFOR from Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum has been purified and characterized but the genes encoding this enzyme have not been identified to date. Enzyme candidates in Chlorobium species can be inferred by sequence similarity to the H. thermophilus genes. For example, the Chlorobium limicola genome encodes two similar proteins. Acetogenic bacteria such as Moorella thermoacetica are predicted to encode two OFOR enzymes. The enzyme encoded by Moth_(—)0034 is predicted to function in the CO2-assimilating direction. The genes associated with this enzyme, Moth_(—)0034 have not been experimentally validated to date but can be inferred by sequence similarity to known OFOR enzymes.

OFOR enzymes that function in the decarboxylation direction under physiological conditions can also catalyze the reverse reaction. The OFOR from the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus sp. strain 7, encoded by ST2300, has been extensively studied (Zhang et al. 1996. A plasmid-based expression system has been developed for efficiently expressing this protein in E. coli (Fukuda et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 268:5639-5646 (2001)) and residues involved in substrate specificity were determined (Fukuda and Wakagi, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1597:74-80 (2002)). The OFOR encoded by Ape1472/Ape1473 from Aeropyrum pernix str. K1 was recently cloned into E. coli, characterized, and found to react with 2-oxoglutarate and a broad range of 2-oxoacids (Nishizawa et al., FEBS Lett. 579:2319-2322 (2005)). Another exemplary OFOR is encoded by oorDABC in Helicobacter pylori (Hughes et al. 1998). An enzyme specific to alpha-ketoglutarate has been reported in Thauera aromatics (Dorner and Boll, J, Bacteriol. 184 (14), 3975-83 (2002). A similar enzyme can be found in Rhodospirillum rubrum by sequence homology. A two subunit enzyme has also been identified in Chlorobium tepidum (Eisen et al., PNAS 99(14): 9509-14 (2002)).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism korA BAB21494 12583691 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus korB BAB21495 12583692 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus forD BAB62132.1 14970994 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus forA BAB62133.1 14970995 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus forB BAB62134.1 14970996 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus forG BAB62135.1 14970997 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus forE BAB62136.1 14970998 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus Clim_0204 ACD89303.1 189339900  Chlorobium limicola Clim_0205 ACD89302.1 189339899  Chlorobium limicola Clim_1123 ACD90192.1 189340789  Chlorobium limicola Clim_1124 ACD90193.1 189340790  Chlorobium limicola Moth_1984 YP_430825.1 83590816 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1985 YP_430826.1 83590817 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0034 YP_428917.1 83588908 Moorella thermoacetica ST2300 NP_378302.1 15922633 Sulfolobus sp. strain 7 Ape1472 BAA80470.1  5105156 Aeropyrum pernix Ape1473 BAA80471.2 116062794  Aeropyrum pernix oorD AAC38210.1  2935178 Helicobacter pylori (NP_207383.1) (15645213) oorA AAC38211.1  2935179 Helicobacter pylori (NP_207384.1) (15645214) oorB AAC38212.1  2935180 Helicobacter pylori (NP_207385.1) (15645215) oorC AAC38213.1  2935181 Helicobacter pylori (NP_207386.1) (15645216) CT0163 NP_661069.1 21673004 Chlorobium tepidum CT0162 NP_661068.1 21673003 Chlorobium tepidum korA CAA12243.2 19571179 Thauera aromatica korB CAD27440.1 19571178 Thauera aromatica Rru_A2721 YP_427805.1 83594053 Rhodospirillum rubrum Rru_A2722 YP_427806.1 83594054 Rhodospirillum rubrum

Isocitrate dehydrogenase catalyzes the reversible decarboxylation of isocitrate to 2-oxoglutarate coupled to the reduction of NAD(P)⁺. IDH enzymes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli are encoded by IDP1 and icd, respectively (Haselbeck and McAlister-Henn, J. Biol. Chem. 266:2339-2345 (1991); Nimmo, H. G., Biochem. J. 234:317-2332 (1986)). The reverse reaction in the reductive TCA cycle, the reductive carboxylation of 2-oxoglutarate to isocitrate, is favored by the NADPH-dependent CO₂-fixing IDH from Chlorobium limicola and was functionally expressed in E. coli (Kanao et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 269:1926-1931 (2002)). A similar enzyme with 95% sequence identity is found in the C. tepidum genome in addititon to some other candidates listed below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism Icd ACI84720.1 209772816 Escherichia coli IDP1 AAA34703.1 171749 Saccharomyces cerevisiae Idh BAC00856.1 21396513 Chlorobium limicola Icd AAM71597.1 21646271 Chlorobium tepidum icd NP_952516.1 39996565 Geobacter sulfurreducens icd YP_393560. 78777245 Sulfurimonas denitrificans

In H. thermophilus the reductive carboxylation of 2-oxoglutarate to isocitrate is catalyzed by two enzymes: 2-oxoglutarate carboxylase and oxalosuccinate reductase. 2-Oxoglutarate carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.7) catalyzes the ATP-dependent carboxylation of alpha-ketoglutarate to oxalosuccinate (Aoshima and Igarashi, Mol. Microbiol. 62:748-759 (2006)). This enzyme is a large complex composed of two subunits. Biotinylation of the large (A) subunit is required for enzyme function (Aoshima et al., Mol. Microbiol. 51:791-798 (2004)). Oxalosuccinate reductase (EC 1.1.1.-) catalyzes the NAD-dependent conversion of oxalosuccinate to D-threo-isocitrate. The enzyme is a homodimer encoded by icd in H. thermophilus. The kinetic parameters of this enzyme indicate that the enzyme only operates in the reductive carboxylation direction in vivo, in contrast to isocitrate dehydrogenase enzymes in other organisms (Aoshima and Igarashi, J. Bacteriol. 190:2050-2055 (2008)). Based on sequence homology, gene candidates have also been found in Thiobacillus denitrificans and Thermocrinis albus.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism cfiA BAF34932.1 116234991 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus cifB BAF34931.1 116234990 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus Icd BAD02487.1 38602676 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus Tbd_1556 YP_315314 74317574 Thiobacillus denitrificans Tbd_1555 YP_315313 74317573 Thiobacillus denitrificans Tbd_0854 YP_314612 74316872 Thiobacillus denitrificans Thal_0268 YP_003473030 289548042 Thermocrinis albus Thal_0267 YP_003473029 289548041 Thermocrinis albus Thal_0646 YP_003473406 289548418 Thermocrinis albus

Aconitase (EC 4.2.1.3) is an iron-sulfur-containing protein catalyzing the reversible isomerization of citrate and iso-citrate via the intermediate cis-aconitate. Two aconitase enzymes are encoded in the E. coli genome by acnA and acnB. AcnB is the main catabolic enzyme, while AcnA is more stable and appears to be active under conditions of oxidative or acid stress (Cunningham et al., Microbiology 143 (Pt 12):3795-3805 (1997)). Two isozymes of aconitase in Salmonella typhimurium are encoded by acnA and acnB (Horswill and Escalante-Semerena, Biochemistry 40:4703-4713 (2001)). The S. cerevisiae aconitase, encoded by ACO1, is localized to the mitochondria where it participates in the TCA cycle (Gangloff et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:3551-3561 (1990)) and the cytosol where it participates in the glyoxylate shunt (Regev-Rudzki et al., Mol. Biol. Cell. 16:4163-4171 (2005)).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism acnA AAC7438.1 1787531 Escherichia coli acnB AAC73229.1 2367097 Escherichia coli acnA NP_460671.1 16765056 Salmonella typhimurium HP0779 NP_207572.1 15645398 Helicobacter pylori 26695 H16_B0568 CAJ95365.1 113529018 Ralstonia eutropha DesfrDRAFT_3783 ZP_07335307.1 303249064 Desulfovibrio fructosovorans JJ Suden_1040 ABB44318.1 78497778 Sulfurimonas (acnB) denitrificans Hydth_0755 ADO45152.1 308751669 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus CT0543 (acn) AAM71785.1 21646475 Chlorobium tepidum Clim_2436 YP_001944436.1 189347907 Chlorobium limicola Clim_0515 ACD89607.1 189340204 Chlorobium limicola acnB NP_459163.1 16763548 Salmonella typhimurium ACO1 AAA34389.1 170982 Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR) catalyzes the reversible oxidation of pyruvate to form acetyl-CoA. The PFOR from Desulfovibrio africanus has been cloned and expressed in E. coli resulting in an active recombinant enzyme that was stable for several days in the presence of oxygen (Pieulle et al., J. Bacteriol. 179:5684-5692 (1997)). Oxygen stability is relatively uncommon in PFORs and is believed to be conferred by a 60 residue extension in the polypeptide chain of the D. africanus enzyme. Two cysteine residues in this enzyme form a disulfide bond that protects it against inactivation in the form of oxygen. This disulfide bond and the stability in the presence of oxygen has been found in other Desulfovibrio species also (Vita et al., Biochemistry, 47: 957-64 (2008)). The M. thermoacetica PFOR is also well characterized (Menon and Ragsdale, Biochemistry 36:8484-8494 (1997)) and was shown to have high activity in the direction of pyruvate synthesis during autotrophic growth (Furdui and Ragsdale, J. Biol. Chem. 275:28494-28499 (2000)). Further, E. coli possesses an uncharacterized open reading frame, ydbK, encoding a protein that is 51% identical to the M. thermoacetica PFOR. Evidence for pyruvate oxidoreductase activity in E. coli has been described (Blaschkowski et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 123:563-569 (1982)). PFORs have also been described in other organisms, including Rhodobacter capsulatas (Yakunin and Hallenbeck, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1409 (1998) 39-49 (1998)) and Choloboum tepidum (Eisen et al., PNAS 99(14): 9509-14 (2002)). The five subunit PFOR from H. thermophilus, encoded by porEDABG, was cloned into E. coli and shown to function in both the decarboxylating and CO₂-assimilating directions (Ikeda et al. 2006; Yamamoto et al., Extremophiles 14:79-85 (2010)). Homologs also exist in C. carboxidivorans P7. Several additional PFOR enzymes are described in the following review (Ragsdale, S. W., Chem. Rev. 103:2333-2346 (2003)). Finally, flavodoxin reductases (e.g., fqrB from Helicobacter pylori or Campylobacter jejuni) (St Maurice et al., J. Bacteriol. 189:4764-4773 (2007)) or Rnf-type proteins (Seedorf et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105:2128-2133 (2008); and Herrmann, J. Bacteriol 190:784-791 (2008)) provide a means to generate NADH or NADPH from the reduced ferredoxin generated by PFOR. These proteins are identified below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism DesfrDRAFT_0121 ZP_07331646.1 303245362 Desulfovibrio fructosovorans JJ Por CAA70873.1 1770208 Desulfovibrio africanus por YP_012236.1 46581428 Desulfovibrio vulgaris str. Hildenborough Dde_3237 ABB40031.1 78220682 DesulfoVibrio desulfuricans G20 Ddes_0298 YP_002478891.1 220903579 Desulfovibrio desulfuricans subsp. desulfuricans str. ATCC 27774 Por YP_428946.1 83588937 Moorella thermoacetica YdbK NP_415896.1 16129339 Escherichia coli nifJ (CT1628) NP_662511.1 21674446 Chlorobium tepidum CJE1649 YP_179630.1 57238499 Campylobacter jejuni nifJ ADE85473.1 294476085 Rhodobacter capsulatus porE BAA95603.1 7768912 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus porD BAA95604.1 7768913 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus porA BAA95605.1 7768914 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus porB BAA95606.1 776891 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus porG BAA95607.1 7768916 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus FqrB YP_001482096.1 157414840 Campylobacter jejuni HP1164 NP_207955.1 15645778 Helicobacter pylori RnfC EDK33306.1 146346770 Clostridium kluyveri RnfD EDK33307.1 146346771 Clostridium kluyveri RnfG EDK33308.1 146346772 Clostridium kluyveri RnfE EDK33309.1 146346773 Clostridium kluyveri RnfA EDK33310.1 146346774 Clostridium kluyveri RnfB EDK33311.1 146346775 Clostridium kluyveri

The conversion of pyruvate into acetyl-CoA can be catalyzed by several other enzymes or their combinations thereof. For example, pyruvate dehydrogenase can transform pyruvate into acetyl-CoA with the concomitant reduction of a molecule of NAD into NADH. It is a multi-enzyme complex that catalyzes a series of partial reactions which results in acylating oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate. The enzyme comprises of three subunits: the pyruvate decarboxylase (E1), dihydrolipoamide acyltransferase (E2) and dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (E3). This enzyme is naturally present in several organisms, including E. coli and S. cerevisiae. In the E. coli enzyme, specific residues in the E1 component are responsible for substrate specificity (Bisswanger, H., J. Biol. Chem. 256:815-82 (1981); Bremer, J., Eur. J. Biochem. 8:535-540 (1969); Gong et al., J. Biol. Chem. 275:13645-13653 (2000)). Enzyme engineering efforts have improved the E. coli PDH enzyme activity under anaerobic conditions (Kim et al., J. Bacteriol. 190:3851-3858 (2008); Kim et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73:1766-1771 (2007); Zhou et al., Biotechnol. Lett. 30:335-342 (2008)). In contrast to the E. coli PDH, the B. subtilis complex is active and required for growth under anaerobic conditions (Nakano et al., J. Bacteriol. 179:6749-6755 (1997)). The Klebsiella pneumoniae PDH, characterized during growth on glycerol, is also active under anaerobic conditions (5). Crystal structures of the enzyme complex from bovine kidney (18) and the E2 catalytic domain from Azotobacter vinelandii are available (4). Yet another enzyme that can catalyze this conversion is pyruvate formate lyase. This enzyme catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate and CoA into acetyl-CoA and formate. Pyruvate formate lyase is a common enzyme in prokaryotic organisms that is used to help modulate anaerobic redox balance. Exemplary enzymes can be found in Escherichia coli encoded by pflB (Knappe and Sawers, FEMS. Microbiol Rev. 6:383-398 (1990)), Lactococcus lactis (Melchiorsen et al., Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 58:338-344 (2002)), and Streptococcus mutans (Takahashi-Abbe et al., Oral. Microbiol Immunol. 18:293-297 (2003)). E. coli possesses an additional pyruvate formate lyase, encoded by tdcE, that catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate or 2-oxobutanoate to acetyl-CoA or propionyl-CoA, respectively (Hesslinger et al., Mol. Microbiol. 27:477-492 (1998)). Both pflB and tdcE from E. coli require the presence of pyruvate formate lyase activating enzyme, encoded by pflA. Further, a short protein encoded by yfiD in E. coli can associate with and restore activity to oxygen-cleaved pyruvate formate lyase (Vey et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105:16137-16141 (2008). Note that pflA and pflB from E. coli were expressed in S. cerevisiae as a means to increase cytosolic acetyl-CoA for butanol production as described in WO/2008/080124]. Additional pyruvate formate lyase and activating enzyme candidates, encoded by pfl and act, respectively, are found in Clostridium pasteurianum (Weidner et al., J. Bacteriol. 178:2440-2444 (1996)).

Further, different enzymes can be used in combination to convert pyruvate into acetyl-CoA. For example, in S. cerevisiae, acetyl-CoA is obtained in the cytosol by first decarboxylating pyruvate to form acetaldehyde; the latter is oxidized to acetate by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and subsequently activated to form acetyl-CoA by acetyl-CoA synthetase. Acetyl-CoA synthetase is a native enzyme in several other organisms including E. coli (Kumari et al., J. Bacteriol. 177:2878-2886 (1995)), Salmonella enterica (Starai et al., Microbiology 151:3793-3801 (2005); Starai et al., J. Biol. Chem. 280:26200-26205 (2005)), and Moorella thermoacetica (described already). Alternatively, acetate can be activated to form acetyl-CoA by acetate kinase and phosphotransacetylase. Acetate kinase first converts acetate into acetyl-phosphate with the accompanying use of an ATP molecule. Acetyl-phosphate and CoA are next converted into acetyl-CoA with the release of one phosphate by phosphotransacetylase. Both acetate kinase and phosphotransacetylyase are well-studied enzymes in several Clostridia and Methanosarcina thermophile.

Yet another way of converting pyruvate to acetyl-CoA is via pyruvate oxidase. Pyruvate oxidase converts pyruvate into acetate, using ubiquione as the electron acceptor. In E. coli, this activity is encoded by poxB. PoxB has similarity to pyruvate decarboxylase of S. cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis. The enzyme has a thiamin pyrophosphate cofactor (Koland and Gennis, Biochemistry 21:4438-4442 (1982)); O'Brien et al., Biochemistry 16:3105-3109 (1977); O'Brien and Gennis, J. Biol. Chem. 255:3302-3307 (1980)) and a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) cofactor. Acetate can then be converted into acetyl-CoA by either acetyl-CoA synthetase or by acetate kinase and phosphotransacetylase, as described earlier. Some of these enzymes can also catalyze the reverse reaction from acetyl-CoA to pyruvate.

For enzymes that use reducing equivalents in the form of NADH or NADPH, these reduced carriers can be generated by transferring electrons from reduced ferredoxin. Two enzymes catalyze the reversible transfer of electrons from reduced ferredoxins to NAD(P)⁺, ferredoxin:NAD⁺ oxidoreductase (EC 1.18.1.3) and ferredoxin:NADP⁺ oxidoreductase (FNR, EC 1.18.1.2). Ferredoxin:NADP⁺ oxidoreductase (FNR, EC 1.18.1.2) has a noncovalently bound FAD cofactor that facilitates the reversible transfer of electrons from NADPH to low-potential acceptors such as ferredoxins or flavodoxins (Blaschkowski et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 123:563-569 (1982); Fujii et al., 1977). The Helicobacter pylori FNR, encoded by HP1164 (fqrB), is coupled to the activity of pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR) resulting in the pyruvate-dependent production of NADPH (St et al. 2007). An analogous enzyme is found in Campylobacter jejuni (St et al. 2007). A ferredoxin:NADP⁺ oxidoreductase enzyme is encoded in the E. coli genome by fpr (Bianchi et al. 1993). Ferredoxin:NAD⁺ oxidoreductase utilizes reduced ferredoxin to generate NADH from NAD⁺. In several organisms, including E. coli, this enzyme is a component of multifunctional dioxygenase enzyme complexes. The ferredoxin:NAD⁺ oxidoreductase of E. coli, encoded by hcaD, is a component of the 3-phenylproppionate dioxygenase system involved in involved in aromatic acid utilization (Diaz et al. 1998). NADH:ferredoxin reductase activity was detected in cell extracts of Hydrogenobacter thermophilus strain TK-6, although a gene with this activity has not yet been indicated (Yoon et al. 2006). Finally, the energy-conserving membrane-associated Rnf-type proteins (Seedorf et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105:2128-2133 (2008); Herrmann et al., J. Bacteriol. 190:784-791 (2008)) provide a means to generate NADH or NADPH from reduced ferredoxin. Additional ferredoxin:NAD(P)+ oxidoreductases have been annotated in Clostridium carboxydivorans P7.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism HP1164 NP_207955.1 15645778 Helicobacter pylori RPA3954 CAE29395.1 39650872 Rhodopseudomonas palustris fpr BAH29712.1 225320633 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus yumC NP_391091.2 255767736 Bacillus subtilis CJE0663 AAW35824.1 57167045 Campylobacter jejuni fpr P28861.4 399486 Escherichia coli hcaD AAC75595.1 1788892 Escherichia coli LOC100282643 NP_001149023.1 226497434 Zea mays RnfC EDK33306.1 146346770 Clostridium kluyveri RnfD EDK33307.1 146346771 Clostridium kluyveri RnfG EDK33308.1 146346772 Clostridium kluyveri RnfE EDK33309.1 146346773 Clostridium kluyveri RnfA EDK33310.1 146346774 Clostridium kluyveri RnfB EDK33311.1 146346775 Clostridium kluyveri CcarbDRAFT_2639 ZP_05392639.1 255525707 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_2638 ZP_05392638.1 255525706 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_2636 ZP_05392636.1 255525704 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_5060 ZP_05395060.1 255528241 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_2450 ZP_05392450.1 255525514 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_1084 ZP_05391084.1 255524124 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7

Ferredoxins are small acidic proteins containing one or more iron-sulfur clusters that function as intracellular electron carriers with a low reduction potential. Reduced ferredoxins donate electrons to Fe-dependent enzymes such as ferredoxin-NADP⁺ oxidoreductase, pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR) and 2-oxoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (OFOR). The H. thermophilus gene fdx1 encodes a [4Fe-4S]-type ferredoxin that is required for the reversible carboxylation of 2-oxoglutarate and pyruvate by OFOR and PFOR, respectively (Yamamoto et al., Extremophiles 14:79-85 (2010)). The ferredoxin associated with the Sulfolobus solfataricus 2-oxoacid:ferredoxin reductase is a monomeric dicluster [3Fe-4S][4Fe-4S] type ferredoxin (Park et al. 2006). While the gene associated with this protein has not been fully sequenced, the N-terminal domain shares 93% homology with the zfx ferredoxin from S. acidocaldarius. The E. coli genome encodes a soluble ferredoxin of unknown physiological function, fdx. Some evidence indicates that this protein can function in iron-sulfur cluster assembly (Takahashi and Nakamura, 1999). Additional ferredoxin proteins have been characterized in Helicobacter pylori (Mukhopadhyay et al. 2003) and Campylobacter jejuni (van Vliet et al. 2001). A 2Fe-2S ferredoxin from Clostridium pasteurianum has been cloned and expressed in E. coli (Fujinaga and Meyer, Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 192(3): (1993)). Acetogenic bacteria such as Moorella thermoacetica, Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 and Rhodospirillum rubrum are predicted to encode several ferredoxins, listed in the table below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism fdx1 BAE02673.1 68163284 Hydrogenobacter thermophilus M11214.1 AAA83524.1 144806 Clostridium pasteurianum Zfx AAY79867.1 68566938 Sulfolobus acidocalarius Fdx AAC75578.1 1788874 Escherichia coli hp_0277 AAD07340.1 2313367 Helicobacter pylori fdxA CAL34484.1 112359698 Campylobacter jejuni Moth_0061 ABC18400.1 83571848 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1200 ABC19514.1 83572962 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1888 ABC20188.1 83573636 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2112 ABC20404.1 83573852 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1037 ABC19351.1 83572799 Moorella thermoacetica CcarbDRAFT_4383 ZP_05394383.1 255527515 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_2958 ZP_05392958.1 255526034 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_2281 ZP_05392281.1 255525342 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_5296 ZP_05395295.1 255528511 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_1615 ZP_05391615.1 255524662 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_1304 ZP_05391304.1 255524347 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 cooF AAG29808.1 11095245 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans fdxN CAA35699.1 46143 Rhodobacter capsulatus Rru_A2264 ABC23064.1 83576513 Rhodospirillum rubrum Rru_A1916 ABC22716.1 83576165 Rhodospirillum rubrum Rru_A2026 ABC22826.1 83576275 Rhodospirillum rubrum cooF AAC45122.1 1498747 Rhodospirillum rubrum fdxN AAA26460.1 152605 Rhodospirillum rubrum Alvin_2884 ADC63789.1 288897953 Allochromatium vinosum DSM 180 fdx YP_002801146.1 226946073 Azotobacter vinelandii DJ CKL_3790 YP_001397146.1 153956381 Clostridium kluyveri DSM 555 fer1 NP_949965.1 39937689 Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009 fdx CAA12251.1 3724172 Thauera aromatica CHY_2405 YP_361202.1 78044690 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans fer YP_359966.1 78045103 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans fer AAC83945.1 1146198 Bacillus subtilis fdx1 NP_249053.1 15595559 Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 yfhL AP_003148.1 89109368 Escherichia coli K-12

Succinyl-CoA transferase catalyzes the conversion of succinyl-CoA to succinate while transferring the CoA moiety to a CoA acceptor molecule. Many transferases have broad specificity and can utilize CoA acceptors as diverse as acetate, succinate, propionate, butyrate, 2-methylacetoacetate, 3-ketohexanoate, 3-ketopentanoate, valerate, crotonate, 3-mercaptopropionate, propionate, vinylacetate, and butyrate, among others.

The conversion of succinate to succinyl-CoA can be carried by a transferase which does not require the direct consumption of an ATP or GTP. This type of reaction is common in a number of organisms. The conversion of succinate to succinyl-CoA can also be catalyzed by succinyl-CoA:Acetyl-CoA transferase. The gene product of cat1 of Clostridium kluyveri has been shown to exhibit succinyl-CoA: acetyl-CoA transferase activity (Sohling and Gottschalk, J. Bacteriol. 178:871-880 (1996)). In addition, the activity is present in Trichomonas vaginalis (van Grinsven et al. 2008) and Trypanosoma brucei (Riviere et al. 2004). The succinyl-CoA:acetate CoA-transferase from Acetobacter aceti, encoded by aarC, replaces succinyl-CoA synthetase in a variant TCA cycle (Mullins et al. 2008). Similar succinyl-CoA transferase activities are also present in Trichomonas vaginalis (van Grinsven et al. 2008), Trypanosoma brucei (Riviere et al. 2004) and Clostridium kluyveri (Sohling and Gottschalk, 1996c). The beta-ketoadipate:succinyl-CoA transferase encoded by pcaI and pcaJ in Pseudomonas putida is yet another candidate (Kaschabek et al. 2002). The aforementioned proteins are identified below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism cat1 P38946.1 729048 Clostridium kluyveri TVAG_395550 XP_001330176 123975034 Trichomonas vaginalis G3 Tb11.02.0290 XP_828352 71754875 Trypanosoma brucei pcaI AAN69545.1 24985644 Pseudomonas putida pcaJ NP_746082.1 26990657 Pseudomonas putida aarC ACD85596.1 189233555 Acetobacter aceti

An additional exemplary transferase that converts succinate to succinyl-CoA while converting a 3-ketoacyl-CoA to a 3-ketoacid is succinyl-CoA:3:ketoacid-CoA transferase (EC 2.8.3.5). Exemplary succinyl-CoA:3:ketoacid-CoA transferases are present in Helicobacter pylori (Corthesy-Theulaz et al. 1997), Bacillus subtilis, and Homo sapiens (Fukao et al. 2000; Tanaka et al. 2002). The aforementioned proteins are identified below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism HPAG1_0676 YP_627417 108563101 Helicobacter pylori HPAG1_0677 YP_627418 108563102 Helicobacter pylori ScoA NP_391778 16080950 Bacillus subtilis ScoB NP_391777 16080949 Bacillus subtilis OXCT1 NP_000427 4557817 Homo sapiens OXCT2 NP_071403 11545841 Homo sapiens

Converting succinate to succinyl-CoA by succinyl-CoA:3:ketoacid-CoA transferase requires the simultaneous conversion of a 3-ketoacyl-CoA such as acetoacetyl-CoA to a 3-ketoacid such as acetoacetate. Conversion of a 3-ketoacid back to a 3-ketoacyl-CoA can be catalyzed by an acetoacetyl-CoA: acetate: CoA transferase. Acetoacetyl-CoA: acetate: CoA transferase converts acetoacetyl-CoA and acetate to acetoacetate and acetyl-CoA, or vice versa. Exemplary enzymes include the gene products of atoAD from E. coli (Hanai et al., Appl Environ Microbiol 73:7814-7818 (2007), ctfAB from C. acetobutylicum (Jojima et al., Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 77:1219-1224 (2008), and ctfAB from Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum (Kosaka et al., Biosci. Biotechnol Biochem. 71:58-68 (2007)) are shown below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism AtoA NP_416726.1 2492994 Escherichia coli AtoD NP_416725.1 2492990 Escherichia coli CtfA NP_149326.1 15004866 Clostridium acetobutylicum CtfB NP_149327.1 15004867 Clostridium acetobutylicum CtfA AAP42564.1 31075384 Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum CtfB AAP42565.1 31075385 Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum

Yet another possible CoA acceptor is benzylsuccinate. Succinyl-CoA:(R)-Benzylsuccinate CoA-Transferase functions as part of an anaerobic degradation pathway for toluene in organisms such as Thauera aromatics (Leutwein and Heider, J. Bact. 183(14) 4288-4295 (2001)). Homologs can be found in Azoarcus sp. T, Aromatoleum aromaticum EbN1, and Geobacter metallireducens GS-15. The aforementioned proteins are identified below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism bbsE AAF89840 9622535 Thauera aromatica Bbsf AAF89841 9622536 Thauera aromatica bbsE AAU45405.1 52421824 Azoarcus sp. T bbsF AAU45406.1 52421825 Azoarcus sp. T bbsE YP_158075.1 56476486 Aromatoleum aromaticum EbN1 bbsF YP_158074.1 56476485 Aromatoleum aromaticum EbN1 Gmet_1521 YP_384480.1 78222733 Geobacter metallireducens GS-15 Gmet_1522 YP_384481.1 78222734 Geobacter metallireducens GS-15

Additionally, ygfH encodes a propionyl CoA:succinate CoA transferase in E. coli (Haller et al., Biochemistry, 39(16) 4622-4629). Close homologs can be found in, for example, Citrobacter youngae ATCC 29220, Salmonella enterica subsp. arizonae serovar, and Yersinia intermedia ATCC 29909. The aforementioned proteins are identified below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism ygfH NP_417395.1 16130821 Escherichia coli str. K-12 substr. MG1655 CIT292_04485 ZP_03838384.1 227334728 Citrobacter youngae ATCC 29220 SARI_04582 YP_001573497.1 161506385 Salmonella enterica subsp. arizonae serovar yinte0001_14430 ZP_04635364.1 238791727 Yersinia intermedia ATCC 29909

Citrate lyase (EC 4.1.3.6) catalyzes a series of reactions resulting in the cleavage of citrate to acetate and oxaloacetate. The enzyme is active under anaerobic conditions and is composed of three subunits: an acyl-carrier protein (ACP, gamma), an ACP transferase (alpha), and a acyl lyase (beta). Enzyme activation uses covalent binding and acetylation of an unusual prosthetic group, 2′-(5″-phosphoribosyl)-3-'-dephospho-CoA, which is similar in structure to acetyl-CoA. Acylation is catalyzed by CitC, a citrate lyase synthetase. Two additional proteins, CitG and CitX, are used to convert the apo enzyme into the active holo enzyme (Schneider et al., Biochemistry 39:9438-9450 (2000)). Wild type E. coli does not have citrate lyase activity; however, mutants deficient in molybdenum cofactor synthesis have an active citrate lyase (Clark, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 55:245-249 (1990)). The E. coli enzyme is encoded by citEFD and the citrate lyase synthetase is encoded by citC (Nilekani and SivaRaman, Biochemistry 22:4657-4663 (1983)). The Leuconostoc mesenteroides citrate lyase has been cloned, characterized and expressed in E. coli (Bekal et al., J. Bacteriol. 180:647-654 (1998)). Citrate lyase enzymes have also been identified in enterobacteria that utilize citrate as a carbon and energy source, including Salmonella typhimurium and Klebsiella pneumoniae (Bott, Arch. Microbiol. 167: 78-88 (1997); Bott and Dimroth, Mol. Microbiol. 14:347-356 (1994)). The aforementioned proteins are tabulated below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism citF AAC73716.1 1786832 Escherichia coli Cite AAC73717.2 87081764 Escherichia coli citD AAC73718.1 1786834 Escherichia coli citC AAC73719.2 87081765 Escherichia coli citG AAC73714.1 1786830 Escherichia coli citX AAC73715.1 1786831 Escherichia coli citF CAA71633.1 2842397 Leuconostoc mesenteroides Cite CAA71632.1 2842396 Leuconostoc mesenteroides citD CAA71635.1 2842395 Leuconostoc mesenteroides citC CAA71636.1 3413797 Leuconostoc mesenteroides citG CAA71634.1 2842398 Leuconostoc mesenteroides citX CAA71634.1 2842398 Leuconostoc mesenteroides citF NP_459613.1 16763998 Salmonella typhimurium cite AAL19573.1 16419133 Salmonella typhimurium citD NP_459064.1 16763449 Salmonella typhimurium citC NP_459616.1 16764001 Salmonella typhimurium citG NP_459611.1 16763996 Salmonella typhimurium citX NP_459612.1 16763997 Salmonella typhimurium citF CAA56217.1 565619 Klebsiella pneumoniae cite CAA56216.1 565618 Klebsiella pneumoniae citD CAA56215.1 565617 Klebsiella pneumoniae citC BAH66541.1 238774045 Klebsiella pneumoniae citG CAA56218.1 565620 Klebsiella pneumoniae citX AAL60463.1 18140907 Klebsiella pneumoniae

Acetate kinase (EC 2.7.2.1) catalyzes the reversible ATP-dependent phosphorylation of acetate to acetylphosphate. Exemplary acetate kinase enzymes have been characterized in many organisms including E. coli, Clostridium acetobutylicum and Methanosarcina thermophile (Ingram-Smith et al., J. Bacteriol. 187:2386-2394 (2005); Fox and Roseman, J. Biol. Chem. 261:13487-13497 (1986); Winzer et al., Microbioloy 143 (Pt 10):3279-3286 (1997)). Acetate kinase activity has also been demonstrated in the gene product of E. coli purT (Marolewski et al., Biochemistry 33:2531-2537 (1994). Some butyrate kinase enzymes (EC 2.7.2.7), for example buk1 and buk2 from Clostridium acetobutylicum, also accept acetate as a substrate (Hartmanis, M. G., J. Biol. Chem. 262:617-621 (1987)).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism ackA NP_416799.1 16130231 Escherichia coli Ack AAB18301.1 1491790 Clostridium acetobutylicum Ack AAA72042.1 349834 Methanosarcina thermophila purT AAC74919.1 1788155 Escherichia coli buk1 NP_349675 15896326 Clostridium acetobutylicum buk2 Q97II1 20137415 Clostridium acetobutylicum

The formation of acetyl-CoA from acetylphosphate is catalyzed by phosphotransacetylase (EC 2.3.1.8). The pta gene from E. coli encodes an enzyme that reversibly converts acetyl-CoA into acetyl-phosphate (Suzuki, T., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 191:559-569 (969)). Additional acetyltransferase enzymes have been characterized in Bacillus subtilis (Rado and Hoch, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 321:114-125 (1973), Clostridium kluyveri (Stadtman, E., Methods Enzymol. 1:5896-599 (1955), and Thermotoga maritima (Bock et al., J. Bacteriol. 181:1861-1867 (1999)). This reaction is also catalyzed by some phosphotranbutyrylase enzymes (EC 2.3.1.19) including the ptb gene products from Clostridium acetobutylicum (Wiesenborn et al., App. Environ. Microbiol. 55:317-322 (1989); Walter et al., Gene 134:107-111 (1993)). Additional ptb genes are found in butyrate-producing bacterium L2-50 (Louis et al., J. Bacteriol. 186:2099-2106 (2004) and Bacillus megaterium (Vazquez et al., Curr. Microbiol. 42:345-349 (2001).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism Pta NP_416800.1 71152910 Escherichia coli Pta P39646 730415 Bacillus subtilis Pta A5N801 146346896 Clostridium kluyveri Pta Q9X0L4 6685776 Thermotoga maritima Ptb NP_349676 34540484 Clostridium acetobutylicum Ptb AAR19757.1 38425288 butyrate-producing bacterium L2-50 Ptb CAC07932.1 10046659 Bacillus megaterium

The acylation of acetate to acetyl-CoA is catalyzed by enzymes with acetyl-CoA synthetase activity. Two enzymes that catalyze this reaction are AMP-forming acetyl-CoA synthetase (EC 6.2.1.1) and ADP-forming acetyl-CoA synthetase (EC 6.2.1.13). AMP-forming acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) is the predominant enzyme for activation of acetate to acetyl-CoA. Exemplary ACS enzymes are found in E. coli (Brown et al., J. Gen. Microbiol. 102:327-336 (1977)), Ralstonia eutropha (Priefert and Steinbuchel, J. Bacteriol. 174:6590-6599 (1992)), Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus (Ingram-Smith and Smith, Archaea 2:95-107 (2007)), Salmonella enterica (Gulick et al., Biochemistry 42:2866-2873 (2003)) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Jogl and Tong, Biochemistry 43:1425-1431 (2004)). ADP-forming acetyl-CoA synthetases are reversible enzymes with a generally broad substrate range (Musfeldt and Schonheit, J. Bacteriol. 184:636-644 (2002)). Two isozymes of ADP-forming acetyl-CoA synthetases are encoded in the Archaeoglobus fulgidus genome by are encoded by AF1211 and AF1983 (Musfeldt and Schonheit, supra (2002)). The enzyme from Haloarcula marismortui (annotated as a succinyl-CoA synthetase) also accepts acetate as a substrate and reversibility of the enzyme was demonstrated (Brasen and Schonheit, Arch. Microbiol. 182:277-287 (2004)). The ACD encoded by PAE3250 from hyperthermophilic crenarchaeon Pyrobaculum aerophilum showed the broadest substrate range of all characterized ACDs, reacting with acetate, isobutyryl-CoA (preferred substrate) and phenylacetyl-CoA (Brasen and Schonheit, supra (2004)). Directed evolution or engineering can be used to modify this enzyme to operate at the physiological temperature of the host organism. The enzymes from A. fulgidus, H. marismortui and P. aerophilum have all been cloned, functionally expressed, and characterized in E. coli (Brasen and Schonheit, supra (2004); Musfeldt and Schonheit, supra (2002)). Additional candidates include the succinyl-CoA synthetase encoded by sucCD in E. coli (Buck et al., Biochemistry 24:6245-6252 (1985)) and the acyl-CoA ligase from Pseudomonas putida (Fernandez-Valverde et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 59:1149-1154 (1993)). The aforementioned proteins are tabulated below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism acs AAC77039.1 1790505 Escherichia coli acoE AAA21945.1 141890 Ralstonia eutropha acs1 ABC87079.1 86169671 Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus acs1 AAL23099.1 16422835 Salmonella enterica ACS1 Q01574.2 257050994 Saccharomyces cerevisiae AF1211 NP_070039.1 11498810 Archaeoglobus fulgidus AF1983 NP_070807.1 11499565 Archaeoglobus fulgidus scs YP_135572.1 55377722 Haloarcula marismortui PAE3250 NP_560604.1 18313937 Pyrobaculum aerophilum str. IM2 sucC NP_415256.1 16128703 Escherichia coli sucD AAC73823.1 1786949 Escherichia coli paaF AAC24333.2 22711873 Pseudomonas putida

The product yields per C-mol of substrate of microbial cells synthesizing reduced fermentation products such as propylene, are limited by insufficient reducing equivalents in the carbohydrate feedstock. Reducing equivalents, or electrons, can be extracted from synthesis gas components such as CO and H₂ using carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) and hydrogenase enzymes, respectively. The reducing equivalents are then passed to acceptors such as oxidized ferredoxins, oxidized quinones, oxidized cytochromes, NAD(P)+, water, or hydrogen peroxide to form reduced ferredoxin, reduced quinones, reduced cytochromes, NAD(P)H, H₂, or water, respectively. Reduced ferredoxin and NAD(P)H are particularly useful as they can serve as redox carriers for various Wood-Ljungdahl pathway and reductive TCA cycle enzymes.

When both feedstocks of sugar and syngas are available, the syngas components CO and H₂ can be utilized to generate reducing equivalents by employing the hydrogenase and CO dehydrogenase. The reducing equivalents generated from syngas components will be utilized to power the glucose to propylene production pathways. Theoretically, all carbons in glucose will be conserved, thus resulting in a maximal theoretical yield to produce propylene from glucose.

As described above, a combined feedstock strategy where syngas is combined with a sugar-based feedstock or other carbon substrate can greatly improve the theoretical yields. In this co-feeding appoach, syngas components H₂ and CO can be utilized by the hydrogenase and CO dehydrogenase to generate reducing equivalents, that can be used to power chemical production pathways in which the carbons from sugar or other carbon substrates will be maximally conserved and the theoretical yields improved for production of propylene. Such improvements provide environmental and economic benefits and greatly enhance sustainable chemical production.

Herein below the enzymes and the corresponding genes used for extracting redox from synags components are described. CODH is a reversible enzyme that interconverts CO and CO₂ at the expense or gain of electrons. The natural physiological role of the CODH in ACS/CODH complexes is to convert CO₂ to CO for incorporation into acetyl-CoA by acetyl-CoA synthase. Nevertheless, such CODH enzymes are suitable for the extraction of reducing equivalents from CO due to the reversible nature of such enzymes. Expressing such CODH enzymes in the absence of ACS allows them to operate in the direction opposite to their natural physiological role (i.e., CO oxidation).

In M. thermoacetica, C. hydrogenoformans, C. carboxidivorans P7, and several other organisms, additional CODH encoding genes are located outside of the ACS/CODH operons. These enzymes provide a means for extracting electrons (or reducing equivalents) from the conversion of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. The M. thermoacetica gene (Genbank Accession Number: YP_(—)430813) is expressed by itself in an operon and is believed to transfer electrons from CO to an external mediator like ferredoxin in a “Ping-pong” reaction. The reduced mediator then couples to other reduced nicolinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAD(P)H) carriers or ferredoxin-dependent cellular processes (Ragsdale, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1125: 129-136 (2008)). The genes encoding the C. hydrogenoformans CODH-II and CooF, a neighboring protein, were cloned and sequenced (Gonzalez and Robb, FEMS Microbiol Lett. 191:243-247 (2000)). The resulting complex was membrane-bound, although cytoplasmic fractions of CODH-II were shown to catalyze the formation of NADPH suggesting an anabolic role (Svetlitchnyi et al., J Bacteriol. 183:5134-5144 (2001)). The crystal structure of the CODH-II is also available (Dobbek et al., Science 293:1281-1285 (2001)). Similar ACS-free CODH enzymes can be found in a diverse array of organisms including Geobacter metallireducens GS-15, Chlorobium phaeobacteroides DSM 266, Clostridium cellulolyticum H10, Desulfovibrio desulfuricans subsp. desulfuricans str. ATCC 27774, Pelobacter carbinolicus DSM 2380, and Campylobacter curvus 525.92.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism CODH (putative) YP_430813 83590804 Moorella thermoacetica CODH-II (CooS- YP_358957 78044574 Carboxydothermus II) hydrogenoformans CooF YP_358958 78045112 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CODH (putative) ZP_05390164.1 255523193 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_0341 ZP_05390341.1 255523371 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_1756 ZP_05391756.1 255524806 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CcarbDRAFT_2944 ZP_05392944.1 255526020 Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 CODH YP_384856.1 78223109 Geobacter metallireducens GS-15 Cpha266_0148 YP_910642.1 119355998 Chlorobium (cytochrome c) phaeobacteroides DSM 266 Cpha266_0149 YP_910643.1 119355999 Chlorobium (CODH) phaeobacteroides DSM 266 Ccel_0438 YP_002504800.1 220927891 Clostridium cellulolyticum H10 Ddes_0382 YP_002478973.1 220903661 Desulfovibrio desulfuricans subsp. (CODH) desulfuricans str. ATCC 27774 Ddes_0381 YP_002478972.1 220903660 Desulfovibrio desulfuricans subsp. (CooC) desulfuricans str. ATCC 27774 Pcar_0057 YP_355490.1 7791767 Pelobacter carbinolicus DSM (CODH) 2380 Pcar_0058 YP_355491.1 7791766 Pelobacter carbinolicus DSM (CooC) 2380 Pcar_0058 YP_355492.1 7791765 Pelobacter carbinolicus DSM (HypA) 2380 CooS (CODH) YP_001407343.1 154175407 Campylobacter curvus 525.92

In some cases, hydrogenase encoding genes are located adjacent to a CODH. In Rhodospirillum rubrum, the encoded CODH/hydrogenase proteins form a membrane-bound enzyme complex that has been indicated to be a site where energy, in the form of a proton gradient, is generated from the conversion of CO and H₂O to CO₂ and H₂ (Fox et al., J. Bacteriol. 178:6200-6208 (1996)). The CODH-I of C. hydrogenoformans and its adjacent genes have been proposed to catalyze a similar functional role based on their similarity to the R. rubrum CODH/hydrogenase gene cluster (Wu et al., PLoS Genet. 1:e65 (2005)). The C. hydrogenoformans CODH-I was also shown to exhibit intense CO oxidation and CO₂ reduction activities when linked to an electrode (Parkin et al., J Am. Chem. Soc. 129:10328-10329 (2007)). The protein sequences of exemplary CODH and hydrogenase genes can be identified by the following GenBank accession numbers.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism CODH-I YP_360644 78043418 Carboxydothermus (CooS-I) hydrogenoformans CooF YP_360645 78044791 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans HypA YP_360646 78044340 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CooH YP_360647 78043871 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CooU YP_360648 78044023 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CooX YP_360649 78043124 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CooL YP_360650 78043938 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CooK YP_360651 78044700 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CooM YP_360652 78043942 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CooC YP_360654.1 78043296 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CooA-1 YP_360655.1 78044021 Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans CooL AAC45118 1515468 Rhodospirillum rubrum CooX AAC45119 1515469 Rhodospirillum rubrum CooU AAC45120 1515470 Rhodospirillum rubrum CooH AAC45121 1498746 Rhodospirillum rubrum CooF AAC45122 1498747 Rhodospirillum rubrum CODH (CooS) AAC45123 1498748 Rhodospirillum rubrum CooC AAC45124 1498749 Rhodospirillum rubrum CooT AAC45125 1498750 Rhodospirillum rubrum CooJ AAC45126 1498751 Rhodospirillum rubrum

Native to E. coli and other enteric bacteria are multiple genes encoding up to four hydrogenases (Sawers, G., Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 66:57-88 (1994); Sawers et al., J. Bacteriol. 164:1324-1331 (1985); Sawers and Boxer, Eur. J Biochem. 156:265-275 (1986); Sawers et al., J Bacteriol. 168:398-404 (1986)). Given the multiplicity of enzyme activities, E. coli or another host organism can provide sufficient hydrogenase activity to split incoming molecular hydrogen and reduce the corresponding acceptor. E. coli possesses two uptake hydrogenases, Hyd-1 and Hyd-2, encoded by the hyaABCDEF and hybOABCDEFG gene clusters, respectively (Lukey et al., How E. coli is equipped to oxidize hydrogen under different redox conditions, J Biol Chem published online Nov. 16, 2009). Hyd-1 is oxygen-tolerant, irreversible, and is coupled to quinone reduction via the hyaC cytochrome. Hyd-2 is sensitive to O₂, reversible, and transfers electrons to the periplasmic ferredoxin hybA which, in turn, reduces a quinone via the hybB integral membrane protein. Reduced quinones can serve as the source of electrons for fumarate reductase in the reductive branch of the TCA cycle. Reduced ferredoxins can be used by enzymes such as NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductases to generate NADPH or NADH. They can alternatively be used as the electron donor for reactions such as pyruvate ferredoxin oxidoreductase, AKG ferredoxin oxidoreductase, and 5,10-methylene-H4folate reductase.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism HyaA AAC74057.1 1787206 Escherichia coli HyaB AAC74058.1 1787207 Escherichia coli HyaC AAC74059.1 1787208 Escherichia coli HyaD AAC74060.1 1787209 Escherichia coli HyaE AAC74061.1 1787210 Escherichia coli HyaF AAC74062.1 1787211 Escherichia coli HybO AAC76033.1 1789371 Escherichia coli HybA AAC76032.1 1789370 Escherichia coli HybB AAC76031.1 2367183 Escherichia coli HybC AAC76030.1 1789368 Escherichia coli HybD AAC76029.1 1789367 Escherichia coli HybE AAC76028.1 1789366 Escherichia coli HybF AAC76027.1 1789365 Escherichia coli HybG AAC76026.1 1789364 Escherichia coli

The hydrogen-lyase systems of E. coli include hydrogenase 3, a membrane-bound enzyme complex using ferredoxin as an acceptor, and hydrogenase 4 that also uses a ferredoxin acceptor. Hydrogenase 3 and 4 are encoded by the hyc and hyf gene clusters, respectively. Hydrogenase 3 has been shown to be a reversible enzyme (Maeda et al., Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 76(5):1035-42 (2007)). Hydrogenase activity in E. coli is also dependent upon the expression of the hyp genes whose corresponding proteins are involved in the assembly of the hydrogenase complexes (Jacobi et al., Arch. Microbiol 158:444-451 (1992); Rangarajan et al., J. Bacteriol, 190:1447-1458 (2008)).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism HycA NP_417205 16130632 Escherichia coli HycB NP_417204 16130631 Escherichia coli HycC NP_417203 16130630 Escherichia coli HycD NP_417202 16130629 Escherichia coli HycE NP_417201 16130628 Escherichia coli HycF NP_417200 16130627 Escherichia coli HycG NP_417199 16130626 Escherichia coli HycH NP_417198 16130625 Escherichia coli HycI NP_417197 16130624 Escherichia coli HyfA NP_416976 90111444 Escherichia coli HyfB NP_416977 16130407 Escherichia coli HyfC NP_416978 90111445 Escherichia coli HyfD NP_416979 16130409 Escherichia coli HyfE NP_416980 16130410 Escherichia coli HyfF NP_416981 16130411 Escherichia coli HyfG NP_416982 16130412 Escherichia coli HyfH NP_416983 16130413 Escherichia coli HyfI NP_416984 16130414 Escherichia coli HyfJ NP_416985 90111446 Escherichia coli HyfR NP_416986 90111447 Escherichia coli HypA NP_417206 16130633 Escherichia coli HypB NP_417207 16130634 Escherichia coli HypC NP_417208 16130635 Escherichia coli HypD NP_417209 16130636 Escherichia coli HypE NP_417210 226524740 Escherichia coli HypF NP_417192 16130619 Escherichia coli

The M. thermoacetica hydrogenases are suitable for a host that lacks sufficient endogenous hydrogenase activity. M. thermoacetica can grow with CO₂ as the exclusive carbon source indicating that reducing equivalents are extracted from H₂ to enable acetyl-CoA synthesis via the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (Drake, H. L., J. Bacteriol. 150:702-709 (1982); Drake and Daniel, Res. Microbiol. 155:869-883 (2004); Kellum and Drake, J. Bacteriol. 160:466-469 (1984)) (see FIG. 6). M. thermoacetica has homologs to several hyp, hyc, and hyf genes from E. coli. The protein sequences encoded for by these genes are identified by the following GenBank accession numbers.

Proteins in M. thermoacetica whose genes are homologous to the E. coli hyp genes are shown below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism Moth_2175 YP_431007 83590998 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2176 YP_431008 83590999 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2177 YP_431009 83591000 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2178 YP_431010 83591001 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2179 YP_431011 83591002 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2180 YP_431012 83591003 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2181 YP_431013 83591004 Moorella thermoacetica

Proteins in M. thermoacetica that are homologous to the E. coli Hydrogenase 3 and/or 4 proteins are listed in the following table.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism Moth_2182 YP_431014 83591005 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2183 YP_431015 83591006 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2184 YP_431016 83591007 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2185 YP_431017 83591008 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2186 YP_431018 83591009 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2187 YP_431019 83591010 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2188 YP_431020 83591011 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2189 YP_431021 83591012 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2190 YP_431022 83591013 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2191 YP_431023 83591014 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_2192 YP_431024 83591015 Moorella thermoacetica

In addition, several gene clusters encoding hydrogenase functionality are present in M. thermoacetica and their corresponding protein sequences are provided below.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism Moth_0439 YP_429313 83589304 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0440 YP_429314 83589305 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0441 YP_429315 83589306 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0442 YP_429316 83589307 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0809 YP_429670 83589661 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0810 YP_429671 83589662 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0811 YP_429672 83589663 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0812 YP_429673 83589664 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0814 YP_429674 83589665 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0815 YP_429675 83589666 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_0816 YP_429676 83589667 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1193 YP_430050 83590041 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1194 YP_430051 83590042 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1195 YP_430052 83590043 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1196 YP_430053 83590044 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1717 YP_430562 83590553 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1718 YP_430563 83590554 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1719 YP_430564 83590555 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1883 YP_430726 83590717 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1884 YP_430727 83590718 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1885 YP_430728 83590719 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1886 YP_430729 83590720 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1887 YP_430730 83590721 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1888 YP_430731 83590722 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1452 YP_430305 83590296 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1453 YP_430306 83590297 Moorella thermoacetica Moth_1454 YP_430307 83590298 Moorella thermoacetica

Ralstonia eutropha H16 uses hydrogen as an energy source with oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor. Its membrane-bound uptake [NiFe]-hydrogenase is an “O2-tolerant” hydrogenase (Cracknell, et al. Proc Nat Acad Sci, 106(49) 20681-20686 (2009)) that is periplasmically-oriented and connected to the respiratory chain via a b-type cytochrome (Schink and Schlegel, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 567, 315-324 (1979); Bernhard et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 248, 179-186 (1997)). R. eutropha also contains an O₂-tolerant soluble hydrogenase encoded by the Hox operon which is cytoplasmic and directly reduces NAD+ at the expense of hydrogen (Schneider and Schlegel, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 452, 66-80 (1976); Burgdorf, J. Bact. 187(9) 3122-3132 (2005)). Soluble hydrogenase enzymes are additionally present in several other organisms including Geobacter sulfurreducens (Coppi, Microbiology 151, 1239-1254 (2005)), Synechocystis str. PCC 6803 (Germer, J. Biol. Chem., 284(52), 36462-36472 (2009)), and Thiocapsa roseopersicina (Rakhely, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70(2) 722-728 (2004)). The Synechocystis enzyme is capable of generating NADPH from hydrogen. Overexpression of both the Hox operon from Synechocystis str. PCC 6803 and the accessory genes encoded by the Hyp operon from Nostoc sp. PCC 7120 led to increased hydrogenase activity compared to expression of the Hox genes alone (Germer, J. Biol. Chem. 284(52), 36462-36472 (2009)).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism HoxF NP_942727.1 38637753 Ralstonia eutropha H16 HoxU NP_942728.1 38637754 Ralstonia eutropha H16 HoxY NP_942729.1 38637755 Ralstonia eutropha H16 HoxH NP_942730.1 38637756 Ralstonia eutropha H16 HoxW NP_942731.1 38637757 Ralstonia eutropha H16 HoxI NP_942732.1 38637758 Ralstonia eutropha H16 HoxE NP_953767.1 39997816 Geobacter sulfurreducens HoxF NP_953766.1 39997815 Geobacter sulfurreducens HoxU NP_953765.1 39997814 Geobacter sulfurreducens HoxY NP_953764.1 39997813 Geobacter sulfurreducens HoxH NP_953763.1 39997812 Geobacter sulfurreducens GSU2717 NP_953762.1 39997811 Geobacter sulfurreducens HoxE NP_441418.1 16330690 Synechocystis str. PCC 6803 HoxF NP_441417.1 16330689 Synechocystis str. PCC 6803 Unknown NP_441416.1 16330688 Synechocystis str. PCC function 6803 HoxU NP_441415.1 16330687 Synechocystis str. PCC 6803 HoxY NP_441414.1 16330686 Synechocystis str. PCC 6803 Unknown NP_441413.1 16330685 Synechocystis str. PCC function 6803 Unknown NP_441412.1 16330684 Synechocystis str. PCC function 6803 HoxH NP_441411.1 16330683 Synechocystis str. PCC 6803 HypF NP_484737.1 17228189 Nostoc sp. PCC 7120 HypC NP_484738.1 17228190 Nostoc sp. PCC 7120 HypD NP_484739.1 17228191 Nostoc sp. PCC 7120 Unknown NP_484740.1 17228192 Nostoc sp. PCC 7120 function HypE NP_484741.1 17228193 Nostoc sp. PCC 7120 HypA NP_484742.1 17228194 Nostoc sp. PCC 7120 HypB NP_484743.1 17228195 Nostoc sp. PCC 7120 Hox1E AAP50519.1 37787351 Thiocapsa roseopersicina Hox1F AAP50520.1 37787352 Thiocapsa roseopersicina Hox1U AAP50521.1 37787353 Thiocapsa roseopersicina Hox1Y AAP50522.1 37787354 Thiocapsa roseopersicina Hox1H AAP50523.1 37787355 Thiocapsa roseopersicina

Several enzymes and the corresponding genes used for fixing carbon dioxide to either pyruvate or phosphoenolpyruvate to form the TCA cycle intermediates, oxaloacetate or malate are described below.

Carboxylation of phosphoenolpyruvate to oxaloacetate is catalyzed by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. Exemplary PEP carboxylase enzymes are encoded by ppc in E. coli (Kai et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 414:170-179 (2003), ppcA in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 (Arps et al., J. Bacteriol. 175:3776-3783 (1993), and ppc in Corynebacterium glutamicum (Eikmanns et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 218:330-339 (1989).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism Ppc NP_418391 16131794 Escherichia coli ppcA AAB58883 28572162 Methylobacterium extorquens Ppc ABB53270 80973080 Corynebacterium glutamicum

An alternative enzyme for converting phosphoenolpyruvate to oxaloacetate is PEP carboxykinase, which simultaneously forms an ATP while carboxylating PEP. In most organisms PEP carboxykinase serves a gluconeogenic function and converts oxaloacetate to PEP at the expense of one ATP. S. cerevisiae is one such organism whose native PEP carboxykinase, PCK1, serves a gluconeogenic role (Valdes-Hevia et al., FEBS Lett. 258:313-316 (1989). E. coli is another such organism, as the role of PEP carboxykinase in producing oxaloacetate is believed to be minor when compared to PEP carboxylase, which does not form ATP, possibly due to the higher K_(m) for bicarbonate of PEP carboxykinase (Kim et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:1238-1241 (2004)). Nevertheless, activity of the native E. coli PEP carboxykinase from PEP towards oxaloacetate has been recently demonstrated in ppc mutants of E. coli K-12 (Kwon et al., J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 16:1448-1452 (2006)). These strains exhibited no growth defects and had increased succinate production at high NaHCO₃ concentrations. Mutant strains of E. coli can adopt Pck as the dominant CO₂-fixing enzyme following adaptive evolution (Zhang et al. 2009). In some organisms, particularly rumen bacteria, PEP carboxykinase is quite efficient in producing oxaloacetate from PEP and generating ATP. Examples of PEP carboxykinase genes that have been cloned into E. coli include those from Mannheimia succiniciproducens (Lee et al., Biotechnol. Bioprocess Eng. 7:95-99 (2002)), Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens (Laivenieks et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63:2273-2280 (1997), and Actinobacillus succinogenes (Kim et al. supra). The PEP carboxykinase enzyme encoded by Haemophilus influenza is effective at forming oxaloacetate from PEP.

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism PCK1 NP_013023 6322950 Saccharomyces cerevisiae pck NP_417862.1 16131280 Escherichia coli pckA YP_089485.1 52426348 Mannheimia succiniciproducens pckA O09460.1 3122621 Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens pckA Q6W6X5 75440571 Actinobacillus succinogenes pckA P43923.1 1172573 Haemophilus influenza

Pyruvate carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.1) directly converts pyruvate to oxaloacetate at the cost of one ATP. Pyruvate carboxylase enzymes are encoded by PYC1 (Walker et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 176:1210-1217 (1991) and PYC2 (Walker et al., supra) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and pyc in Mycobacterium smegmatis (Mukhopadhyay and Purwantini, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1475:191-206 (2000)).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism PYC1 NP_011453 6321376 Saccharomyces cerevisiae PYC2 NP_009777 6319695 Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pyc YP_890857.1 118470447 Mycobacterium smegmatis

Malic enzyme can be applied to convert CO₂ and pyruvate to malate at the expense of one reducing equivalent. Malic enzymes for this purpose can include, without limitation, malic enzyme (NAD-dependent) and malic enzyme (NADP-dependent). For example, one of the E. coli malic enzymes (Takeo, J. Biochem. 66:379-387 (1969)) or a similar enzyme with higher activity can be expressed to enable the conversion of pyruvate and CO₂ to malate. By fixing carbon to pyruvate as opposed to PEP, malic enzyme allows the high-energy phosphate bond from PEP to be conserved by pyruvate kinase whereby ATP is generated in the formation of pyruvate or by the phosphotransferase system for glucose transport. Although malic enzyme is typically assumed to operate in the direction of pyruvate formation from malate, overexpression of the NAD-dependent enzyme, encoded by maeA, has been demonstrated to increase succinate production in E. coli while restoring the lethal Δpfl-ΔldhA phenotype under anaerobic conditions by operating in the carbon-fixing direction (Stols and Donnelly, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63(7) 2695-2701 (1997)). A similar observation was made upon overexpressing the malic enzyme from Ascaris suum in E. coli (Stols et al., Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 63-65(1), 153-158 (1997)). The second E. coli malic enzyme, encoded by maeB, is NADP-dependent and also decarboxylates oxaloacetate and other alpha-keto acids (Iwakura et al., J. Biochem. 85(5):1355-65 (1979)).

Protein GenBank ID GI Number Organism maeA NP_415996 90111281 Escherichia coli maeB NP_416958 16130388 Escherichia coli NAD-ME P27443 126732 Ascaris suum

The enzymes used for converting oxaloacetate (formed from, for example, PEP carboxylase, PEP carboxykinase, or pyruvate carboxylase) or malate (formed from, for example, malic enzyme or malate dehydrogenase) to succinyl-CoA via the reductive branch of the TCA cycle are malate dehydrogenase, fumarate dehydratase (fumarase), fumarate reductase, and succinyl-CoA transferase. The genes for each of the enzymes are described herein above.

Enzymes, genes and methods for engineering pathways from succinyl-CoA to various products into a microorganism are now known in the art. The additional reducing equivalents obtained from CO and/or H₂, as disclosed herein, improve the yields of propylene when utilizing carbohydrate-based feedstock. For example, propylene can be produced as exemplified in the figures using enzymes as disclosed herein.

Enzymes, genes and methods for engineering pathways from glycolysis intermediates to various products into a microorganism are known in the art. The additional reducing equivalents obtained from CO and H₂, as described herein, improve the yields of all these products, including propylene, on carbohydrates.

Example III Methods for Handling CO and Anaerobic Cultures

This example describes methods used in handling CO and anaerobic cultures.

A. Handling of CO in Small Quantities for Assays and Small Cultures.

CO is an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas that is a poison. Therefore, cultures and assays that utilized CO required special handling. Several assays, including CO oxidation, acetyl-CoA synthesis, CO concentration using myoglobin, and CO tolerance/utilization in small batch cultures, called for small quantities of the CO gas that were dispensed and handled within a fume hood. Biochemical assays called for saturating very small quantities (<2 mL) of the biochemical assay medium or buffer with CO and then performing the assay. All of the CO handling steps were performed in a fume hood with the sash set at the proper height and blower turned on; CO was dispensed from a compressed gas cylinder and the regulator connected to a Schlenk line. The latter ensures that equal concentrations of CO were dispensed to each of several possible cuvettes or vials. The Schlenk line was set up containing an oxygen scrubber on the input side and an oil pressure release bubbler and vent on the other side. Assay cuvettes were both anaerobic and CO-containing. Therefore, the assay cuvettes were tightly sealed with a rubber stopper and reagents were added or removed using gas-tight needles and syringes. Secondly, small (˜50 mL) cultures were grown with saturating CO in tightly stoppered serum bottles. As with the biochemical assays, the CO-saturated microbial cultures were equilibrated in the fume hood using the Schlenk line setup. Both the biochemical assays and microbial cultures were in portable, sealed containers and in small volumes making for safe handling outside of the fume hood. The compressed CO tank was adjacent to the fume hood.

Typically, a Schlenk line was used to dispense CO to cuvettes, each vented. Rubber stoppers on the cuvettes were pierced with 19 or 20 gage disposable syringe needles and were vented with the same. An oil bubbler was used with a CO tank and oxygen scrubber. The glass or quartz spectrophotometer cuvettes have a circular hole on top into which a Kontes stopper sleeve, Sz7 774250-0007 was fitted. The CO detector unit was positioned proximal to the fume hood.

B. Handling of CO in Larger Quantities Fed to Large-Scale Cultures.

Fermentation cultures are fed either CO or a mixture of CO and H₂ to simulate syngas as a feedstock in fermentative production. Therefore, quantities of cells ranging from 1 liter to several liters can include the addition of CO gas to increase the dissolved concentration of CO in the medium. In these circumstances, fairly large and continuously administered quantities of CO gas are added to the cultures. At different points, the cultures are harvested or samples removed. Alternatively, cells are harvested with an integrated continuous flow centrifuge that is part of the fermenter.

The fermentative processes are carried out under anaerobic conditions. In some cases, it is uneconomical to pump oxygen or air into fermenters to ensure adequate oxygen saturation to provide a respiratory environment. In addition, the reducing power generated during anaerobic fermentation may be needed in product formation rather than respiration. Furthermore, many of the enzymes for various pathways are oxygen-sensitive to varying degrees. Classic acetogens such as M. thermoacetica are obligate anaerobes and the enzymes in the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway are highly sensitive to irreversible inactivation by molecular oxygen. While there are oxygen-tolerant acetogens, the repertoire of enzymes in the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway might be incompatible in the presence of oxygen because most are metallo-enzymes, key components are ferredoxins, and regulation can divert metabolism away from the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway to maximize energy acquisition. At the same time, cells in culture act as oxygen scavengers that moderate the need for extreme measures in the presence of large cell growth.

C. Anaerobic Chamber and Conditions.

Exemplary anaerobic chambers are available commercially (see, for example, Vacuum Atmospheres Company, Hawthorne Calif.; MBraun, Newburyport Mass.). Conditions included an O₂ concentration of 1 ppm or less and 1 atm pure N₂. In one example, 3 oxygen scrubbers/catalyst regenerators were used, and the chamber included an O₂ electrode (such as Teledyne; City of Industry Calif.). Nearly all items and reagents were cycled four times in the airlock of the chamber prior to opening the inner chamber door. Reagents with a volume >5 mL were sparged with pure N₂ prior to introduction into the chamber. Gloves are changed twice/yr and the catalyst containers were regenerated periodically when the chamber displays increasingly sluggish response to changes in oxygen levels. The chamber's pressure was controlled through one-way valves activated by solenoids. This feature allowed setting the chamber pressure at a level higher than the surroundings to allow transfer of very small tubes through the purge valve.

The anaerobic chambers achieved levels of O₂ that were consistently very low and were needed for highly oxygen sensitive anaerobic conditions. However, growth and handling of cells does not usually require such precautions. In an alternative anaerobic chamber configuration, platinum or palladium can be used as a catalyst that requires some hydrogen gas in the mix. Instead of using solenoid valves, pressure release can be controlled by a bubbler. Instead of using instrument-based O₂ monitoring, test strips can be used instead.

D. Anaerobic Microbiology.

Small cultures were handled as described above for CO handling. In particular, serum or media bottles are fitted with thick rubber stoppers and aluminum crimps are employed to seal the bottle. Medium, such as Terrific Broth, is made in a conventional manner and dispensed to an appropriately sized serum bottle. The bottles are sparged with nitrogen for ˜30 min of moderate bubbling. This removes most of the oxygen from the medium and, after this step, each bottle is capped with a rubber stopper (such as Bellco 20 mm septum stoppers; Bellco, Vineland, N.J.) and crimp-sealed (Bellco 20 mm). Then the bottles of medium are autoclaved using a slow (liquid) exhaust cycle. At least sometimes a needle can be poked through the stopper to provide exhaust during autoclaving; the needle needs to be removed immediately upon removal from the autoclave. The sterile medium has the remaining medium components, for example buffer or antibiotics, added via syringe and needle. Prior to addition of reducing agents, the bottles are equilibrated for 30-60 minutes with nitrogen (or CO depending upon use). A reducing agent such as a 100×150 mM sodium sulfide, 200 mM cysteine-HCl is added. This is made by weighing the sodium sulfide into a dry beaker and the cysteine into a serum bottle, bringing both into the anaerobic chamber, dissolving the sodium sulfide into anaerobic water, then adding this to the cysteine in the serum bottle. The bottle is stoppered immediately as the sodium sulfide solution generates hydrogen sulfide gas upon contact with the cysteine. When injecting into the culture, a syringe filter is used to sterilize the solution. Other components are added through syringe needles, such as B12 (10 μM cyanocobalamin), nickel chloride (NiCl₂, 20 microM final concentration from a 40 mM stock made in anaerobic water in the chamber and sterilized by autoclaving or by using a syringe filter upon injection into the culture), and ferrous ammonium sulfate (final concentration needed is 100 μM—made as 100-1000× stock solution in anaerobic water in the chamber and sterilized by autoclaving or by using a syringe filter upon injection into the culture). To facilitate faster growth under anaerobic conditions, the 1 liter bottles were inoculated with 50 mL of a preculture grown anaerobically. Induction of the pA1-lacO1 promoter in the vectors was performed by addition of isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) to a final concentration of 0.2 mM and was carried out for about 3 hrs.

Large cultures can be grown in larger bottles using continuous gas addition while bubbling. A rubber stopper with a metal bubbler is placed in the bottle after medium addition and sparged with nitrogen for 30 minutes or more prior to setting up the rest of the bottle. Each bottle is put together such that a sterile filter will sterilize the gas bubbled in and the hoses on the bottles are compressible with small C clamps. Medium and cells are stirred with magnetic stir bars. Once all medium components and cells are added, the bottles are incubated in an incubator in room air but with continuous nitrogen sparging into the bottles.

Example IV CO Oxidation (CODH) Assay

This example describes assay methods for measuring CO oxidation (CO dehydrogenase; CODH).

The 7 gene CODH/ACS operon of Moorella thermoacetica was cloned into E. coli expression vectors. The intact ˜10 kbp DNA fragment was cloned, and it is likely that some of the genes in this region are expressed from their own endogenous promoters and all contain endogenous ribosomal binding sites. These clones were assayed for CO oxidation, using an assay that quantitatively measures CODH activity. Antisera to the M. thermoacetica gene products was used for Western blots to estimate specific activity. M. thermoacetica is Gram positive, and ribosome binding site elements are expected to work well in E. coli. This activity, described below in more detail, was estimated to be ˜ 1/50th of the M. thermoacetica specific activity. It is possible that CODH activity of recombinant E. coli cells could be limited by the fact that M. thermoacetica enzymes have temperature optima around 55° C. Therefore, a mesophilic CODH/ACS pathway could be advantageous such as the close relative of Moorella that is mesophilic and does have an apparently intact CODH/ACS operon and a Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, Desulfitobacterium hafniense. Acetogens as potential host organisms include, but are not limited to, Rhodospirillum rubrum, Moorella thermoacetica and Desulfitobacterium hafniense.

CO oxidation is both the most sensitive and most robust of the CODH/ACS assays. It is likely that an E. coli-based syngas using system will ultimately need to be about as anaerobic as Clostridial (i.e., Moorella) systems, especially for maximal activity. Improvement in CODH should be possible but will ultimately be limited by the solubility of CO gas in water.

Initially, each of the genes was cloned individually into expression vectors. Combined expression units for multiple subunits/1 complex were generated. Expression in E. coli at the protein level was determined. Both combined M. thermoacetica CODH/ACS operons and individual expression clones were made.

CO oxidation assay. This assay is one of the simpler, reliable, and more versatile assays of enzymatic activities within the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway and tests CODH (Seravalli et al., Biochemistry 43:3944-3955 (2004)). A typical activity of M. thermoacetica CODH specific activity is 500 U at 55° C. or ˜60 U at 25° C. This assay employs reduction of methyl viologen in the presence of CO. This is measured at 578 nm in stoppered, anaerobic, glass cuvettes.

In more detail, glass rubber stoppered cuvettes were prepared after first washing the cuvette four times in deionized water and one time with acetone. A small amount of vacuum grease was smeared on the top of the rubber gasket. The cuvette was gassed with CO, dried 10 min with a 22 Ga. needle plus an exhaust needle. A volume of 0.98 mL of reaction buffer (50 mM Hepes, pH 8.5, 2 mM dithiothreitol (DTT) was added using a 22 Ga. needle, with exhaust needled, and 100% CO. Methyl viologen (CH₃ viologen) stock was 1 M in water. Each assay used 20 microliters for 20 mM final concentration. When methyl viologen was added, an 18 Ga needle (partial) was used as a jacket to facilitate use of a Hamilton syringe to withdraw the CH₃ viologen. 4-5 aliquots were drawn up and discarded to wash and gas equilibrate the syringe. A small amount of sodium dithionite (0.1 M stock) was added when making up the CH₃ viologen stock to slightly reduce the CH₃ viologen. The temperature was equilibrated to 55° C. in a heated Olis spectrophotometer (Bogart Ga.). A blank reaction (CH₃ viologen+buffer) was run first to measure the base rate of CH₃ viologen reduction. Crude E. coli cell extracts of ACS90 and ACS91 (CODH-ACS operon of M. thermoacetica with and without, respectively, the first cooC). 10 microliters of extract were added at a time, mixed and assayed. Reduced CH₃ viologen turns purple. The results of an assay are shown in Table I.

TABLE I Crude extract CO Oxidation Activities. ACS90 7.7 mg/ml ACS91 11.8 mg/ml Mta98 9.8 mg/ml Mta99 11.2 mg/ml Extract Vol OD/ U/ml U/mg ACS90 10 microliters 0.073 0.376 0.049 ACS91 10 microliters 0.096 0.494 0.042 Mta99 10 microliters 0.0031 0.016 0.0014 ACS90 10 microliters 0.099 0.51 0.066 Mta99 25 microliters 0.012 0.025 0.0022 ACS91 25 microliters 0.215 0.443 0.037 Mta98 25 microliters 0.019 0.039 0.004 ACS91 10 microliters 0.129 0.66 0.056 Averages ACS90 0.057 U/mg ACS91 0.045 U/mg Mta99 0.0018 U/mg 

Mta98/Mta99 are E. coli MG1655 strains that express methanol methyltransferase genes from M. thermoacetia and, therefore, are negative controls for the ACS90 ACS91 E. coli strains that contain M. thermoacetica CODH operons.

If ˜1% of the cellular protein is CODH, then these figures would be approximately 100× less than the 500 U/mg activity of pure M. thermoacetica CODH. Actual estimates based on Western blots are 0.5% of the cellular protein, so the activity is about 50× less than for M. thermoacetica CODH. Nevertheless, this experiment demonstrates CO oxidation activity in recombinant E. coli with a much smaller amount in the negative controls. The small amount of CO oxidation (CH₃ viologen reduction) seen in the negative controls indicates that E. coli may have a limited ability to reduce CH₃ viologen.

To estimate the final concentrations of CODH and Mtr proteins, SDS-PAGE followed by Western blot analyses were performed on the same cell extracts used in the CO oxidation, ACS, methyltransferase, and corrinoid Fe—S assays. The antisera used were polyclonal to purified M. thermoacetica CODH-ACS and Mtr proteins and were visualized using an alkaline phosphatase-linked goat-anti-rabbit secondary antibody. The Westerns were performed and results are shown in FIG. 9. The amounts of CODH in ACS90 and ACS91 were estimated at 50 ng by comparison to the control lanes. Expression of CODH-ACS operon genes including 2 CODH subunits and the methyltransferase were confirmed via Western blot analysis. Therefore, the recombinant E. coli cells express multiple components of a 7 gene operon. In addition, both the methyltransferase and corrinoid iron sulfur protein were active in the same recombinant E. coli cells. These proteins are part of the same operon cloned into the same cells.

The CO oxidation assays were repeated using extracts of Moorella thermoacetica cells for the positive controls. Though CODH activity in E. coli ACS90 and ACS91 was measurable, it was at about 130-150× lower than the M. thermoacetica control. The results of the assay are shown in FIG. 9. Briefly, cells (M. thermoacetica or E. coli with the CODH/ACS operon; ACS90 or ACS91 or empty vector: pZA33S) were grown and extracts prepared as described herein. Assays were performed as described above at 55° C. at various times on the day the extracts were prepared. Reduction of methylviologen was followed at 578 nm over a 120 sec time course.

These results describe the CO oxidation (CODH) assay and results. Recombinant E. coli cells expressed CO oxidation activity as measured by the methyl viologen reduction assay.

Example V E. coli CO Tolerance Experiment and CO Concentration Assay (Myoglobin Assay)

This example describes the tolerance of E. coli for high concentrations of CO.

To test whether or not E. coli can grow anaerobically in the presence of saturating amounts of CO, cultures were set up in 120 ml serum bottles with 50 ml of Terrific Broth medium (plus reducing solution, NiCl₂, Fe(II)NH₄SO₄, cyanocobalamin, IPTG, and chloramphenicol) as described above for anaerobic microbiology in small volumes. One half of these bottles were equilibrated with nitrogen gas for 30 min. and one half was equilibrated with CO gas for 30 min. An empty vector (pZA33) was used as a control, and cultures containing the pZA33 empty vector as well as both ACS90 and ACS91 were tested with both N₂ and CO. All were inoculated and grown for 36 hrs with shaking (250 rpm) at 37° C. At the end of the 36 hour period, examination of the flasks showed high amounts of growth in all. The bulk of the observed growth occurred overnight with a long lag.

Given that all cultures appeared to grow well in the presence of CO, the final CO concentrations were confirmed. This was performed using an assay of the spectral shift of myoglobin upon exposure to CO. Myoglobin reduced with sodium dithionite has an absorbance peak at 435 nm; this peak is shifted to 423 nm with CO. Due to the low wavelength and need to record a whole spectrum from 300 nm on upwards, quartz cuvettes must be used. CO concentration is measured against a standard curve and depends upon the Henry's Law constant for CO of maximum water solubility=970 micromolar at 20° C. and 1 atm.

For the myoglobin test of CO concentration, cuvettes were washed 10× with water, 1× with acetone, and then stoppered as with the CODH assay. N₂ was blown into the cuvettes for ˜10 min. A volume of 1 ml of anaerobic buffer (HEPES, pH 8.0, 2 mM DTT) was added to the blank (not equilibrated with CO) with a Hamilton syringe. A volume of 10 microliter myoglobin (˜1 mM—can be varied, just need a fairly large amount) and 1 microliter dithionite (20 mM stock) were added. A CO standard curve was made using CO saturated buffer added at 1 microliter increments. Peak height and shift was recorded for each increment. The cultures tested were pZA33/CO, ACS90/CO, and ACS91/CO. Each of these was added in 1 microliter increments to the same cuvette. Midway through the experiment a second cuvette was set up and used. The results are shown in Table II.

TABLE II Carbon Monoxide Concentrations, 36 hrs. Strain and Growth Conditions Final CO concentration (micromolar) pZA33-CO 930 ACS9O-CO 638 494 734 883 ave 687 SD 164 ACS91-CO 728 812 760 611 ave. 728 SD 85

The results shown in Table II indicate that the cultures grew whether or not a strain was cultured in the presence of CO or not. These results indicate that E. coli can tolerate exposure to CO under anaerobic conditions and that E. coli cells expressing the CODH-ACS operon can metabolize some of the CO.

These results demonstrate that E. coli cells, whether expressing CODH/ACS or not, were able to grow in the presence of saturating amounts of CO. Furthermore, these grew equally well as the controls in nitrogen in place of CO. This experiment demonstrated that laboratory strains of E. coli are insensitive to CO at the levels achievable in a syngas project performed at normal atmospheric pressure. In addition, preliminary experiments indicated that the recombinant E. coli cells expressing CODH/ACS actually consumed some CO, probably by oxidation to carbon dioxide.

Example VI Exemplary Carboxylic Acid Reductases

This example describes the use of carboxylic acid reductases to carry out the conversion of a caroboxylic acid to an aldehyde.

1.2.1.e Acid Reductase

The conversion of unactivated acids to aldehydes can be carried out by an acid reductase. Examples of such conversions include, but are not limited, the conversion of 4-hydroxybutyrate, succinate, alpha-ketoglutarate, and 4-aminobutyrate to 4-hydroxybutanal, succinate semialdehyde, 2,5-dioxopentanoate, and 4-aminobutanal, respectively. One notable carboxylic acid reductase can be found in Nocardia iowensis which catalyzes the magnesium, ATP and NADPH-dependent reduction of carboxylic acids to their corresponding aldehydes (Venkitasubramanian et al., J. Biol. Chem. 282:478-485 (2007)). This enzyme is encoded by the car gene and was cloned and functionally expressed in E. coli (Venkitasubramanian et al., J. Biol. Chem. 282:478-485 (2007)). Expression of the npt gene product improved activity of the enzyme via post-transcriptional modification. The npt gene encodes a specific phosphopantetheine transferase (PPTase) that converts the inactive apo-enzyme to the active holo-enzyme. The natural substrate of this enzyme is vanillic acid, and the enzyme exhibits broad acceptance of aromatic and aliphatic substrates (Venkitasubramanian et al., in Biocatalysis in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industires, ed. R. N. Patel, Chapter 15, pp. 425-440, CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Fla. (2006)).

Gene Accession No. GI No. Organism car AAR91681.1 40796035 Nocardia iowensis (sp. NRRL 5646) npt ABI83656.1 114848891 Nocardia iowensis (sp. NRRL 5646)

Additional car and npt genes can be identified based on sequence homology.

Gene Accession No. GI No. Organism fadD9 YP_978699.1 121638475 Mycobacterium bovis BCG BCG_2812c YP_978898.1 121638674 Mycobacterium bovis BCG nfa20150 YP_118225.1 54023983 Nocardia farcinica IFM 10152 nfa40540 YP_120266.1 54026024 Nocardia farcinica 10152 SGR_6790 YP_001828302.1 182440583 Streptomyces griseus subsp. griseus NBRC 13350 SGR_665 YP_001822177.1 182434458 Streptomyces griseus subsp. griseus NBRC 13350

An additional enzyme candidate found in Streptomyces griseus is encoded by the griC and griD genes. This enzyme is believed to convert 3-amino-4-hydroxybenzoic acid to 3-amino-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde as deletion of either griC or griD led to accumulation of extracellular 3-acetylamino-4-hydroxybenzoic acid, a shunt product of 3-amino-4-hydroxybenzoic acid metabolism (Suzuki, et al., J. Antibiot. 60(6):380-387 (2007)). Co-expression of griC and griD with SGR 665, an enzyme similar in sequence to the Nocardia iowensis npt, can be beneficial.

Gene Accession No. GI No. Organism griC 182438036 YP_001825755.1 Streptomyces griseus subsp. griseus NBRC 13350 griD 182438037 YP_001825756.1 Streptomyces griseus subsp. griseus NBRC 13350 MSMEG_2956 YP_887275.1 YP_887275.1 Mycobacterium smegmatis MC2 155 MSMEG_5739 YP_889972.1 118469671 Mycobacterium smegmatis MC2 155 MSMEG_2648 YP_886985.1 118471293 Mycobacterium smegmatis MC2 155 MAP1040c NP_959974.1 41407138 Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis K- 10 MAP2899c NP_961833.1 41408997 Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis K- 10 MMAR_2117 YP_001850422.1 183982131 Mycobacterium marinum M MMAR_2936 YP_001851230.1 183982939 Mycobacterium marinum M MMAR_1916 YP_001850220.1 183981929 Mycobacterium marinum M TpauDRAFT_33060 ZP_04027864.1 227980601 Tsukamurella paurometabola DSM 20162 TpauDRAFT_20920 ZP_04026660.1 227979396 Tsukamurella paurometabola DSM 20162 CPCC7001_1320 ZP_05045132.1 254431429 Cyanobium PCC7001 DDBDRAFT_0187729 XP_636931.1 66806417 Dictyostelium discoideum AX4

An enzyme with similar characteristics, alpha-aminoadipate reductase (AAR, EC 1.2.1.31), participates in lysine biosynthesis pathways in some fungal species. This enzyme naturally reduces alpha-aminoadipate to alpha-aminoadipate semialdehyde. The carboxyl group is first activated through the ATP-dependent formation of an adenylate that is then reduced by NAD(P)H to yield the aldehyde and AMP. Like CAR, this enzyme utilizes magnesium and requires activation by a PPTase. Enzyme candidates for AAR and its corresponding PPTase are found in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Morris et al., Gene 98:141-145 (1991)), Candida albicans (Guo et al., Mol. Genet. Genomics 269:271-279 (2003)), and Schizosaccharomyces pombe (Ford et al., Curr. Genet. 28:131-137 (1995)). The AAR from S. pombe exhibited significant activity when expressed in E. coli (Guo et al., Yeast 21:1279-1288 (2004)). The AAR from Penicillium chrysogenum accepts S-carboxymethyl-L-cysteine as an alternate substrate, but did not react with adipate, L-glutamate or diaminopimelate (Hijarrubia et al., J. Biol. Chem. 278:8250-8256 (2003)). The gene encoding the P. chrysogenum PPTase has not been identified to date.

Gene Accession No. GI No. Organism LYS2 AAA34747.1 171867 Saccharomyces cerevisiae LYS5 P50113.1 1708896 Saccharomyces cerevisiae LYS2 AAC02241.1 2853226 Candida albicans LYS5 AAO26020.1 28136195 Candida albicans Lys1p P40976.3 13124791 Schizosaccharomyces pombe Lys7p Q10474.1 1723561 Schizosaccharomyces pombe Lys2 CAA74300.1 3282044 Penicillium chrysogenum

Cloning and Expression of Carboxylic Acid Reductase.

Escherichia coli is used as a target organism to engineer the pathway for propylene. E. coli provides a good host for generating a non-naturally occurring microorganism capable of producing propylene. E. coli is amenable to genetic manipulation and is known to be capable of producing various intermediates and products effectively under various oxygenation conditions.

To generate a microbial organism strain such as an E. coli strain engineered to produce propylene, nucleic acids encoding a carboxylic acid reductase and phosphopantetheine transferase are expressed in E. coli using well known molecular biology techniques (see, for example, Sambrook, supra, 2001; Ausubel supra, 1999). In particular, car genes from Nocardia iowensis (designated 720), Mycobacterium smegmatis mc(2)155 (designated 890), Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis K-10 (designated 891) and Mycobacterium marinum M (designated 892) were cloned into pZS*13 vectors (Expressys, Ruelzheim, Germany) under control of PA1/lac0 promoters. The npt (ABI83656.1) gene (i.e., 721) was cloned into the pKJL33S vector, a derivative of the original mini-F plasmid vector PML31 under control of promoters and ribosomal binding sites similar to those used in pZS*13.

The car gene (GNM_(—)720) was cloned by PCR from Nocardia genomic DNA. Its nucleic acid and protein sequences are shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, respectively. A codon-optimized version of the npt gene (GNM_(—)721) was synthesized by GeneArt (Regensburg, Germany). Its nucleic acid and protein sequences are shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, respectively. The nucleic acid and protein sequences for the Mycobacterium smegmatis mc(2)155 (designated 890), Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis K-10 (designated 891) and Mycobacterium marinum M (designated 892) genes and enzymes can be found in FIGS. 12, 13, and 14, respectively. The plasmids are transformed into a host cell to express the proteins and enzymes required for propylene production.

Additional CAR variants were generated. A codon optimized version of CAR 891 was generated and designated 891 GA. The nucleic acid and amino acid sequences of CAR 891GA are shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, respectively. Over 2000 CAR variants were generated. In particular, all 20 amino acid combinations were made at positions V295, M296, G297, G391, G421, D413, G414, Y415, G416, and 5417, and additional variants were tested as well. Exemplary CAR variants include: E16K; Q95L; L100M; A1011T; K823E; T941S; H15Q; D198E; G446C; S392N; F699L; V883I; F467S; T987S; R12H; V295G; V295A; V295S; V295T; V295G; V295V; V295L; V295I; V295M; V295P; V295F; V295Y; V295W; V295D; V295E; V295N; V295Q; V295H; V295K; V295R; M296G; M296A; M296S; M296T; M296C; M296V; M296L; M296I; M296M; M296P; M296F; M296Y; M296W; M296D; M296E; M296N; M296Q; M296H; M296K; M296R; G297G; G297A; G297S; G297T; G297C; G297V; G297L; G297I; G297M; G297P; G297F; G297Y; G297W; G297D; G297E; G297N; G297Q; G297H; G297K; G297R; G391G; G391A; G391S; G391T; G391C; G391V; G391L; G391I; G391M; G391P; G391F; G391Y; G391W; G391D; G391E; G391N; G391Q; G391H; G391K; G391R; G421G; G421A; G421S; G421T; G421C; G421V; G421L; G421I G421M; G421P; G421F; G421Y; G421W; G421D; G421E; G421N; G421Q; G421H; G421K; G421R; D413G; D413A; D413S; D413T; D413C; D413V; D413L; D413I; D413M; D413P; D413F; D413Y; D413W; D413D; D413E; D413N; D413Q; D413H; D413K; D413R; G414G; G414A; G414S; G414T; G414C; G414V; G414L; G414I; G414M; G414P; G414F; G414Y; G414W; G414D; G414E; G414N; G414Q; G414H; G414K; G414R; Y415G; Y415A; Y415S; Y415T; Y415C; Y415V; Y415L; Y415I; Y415M; Y415P; Y415F; Y415Y; Y415W; Y415D; Y415E; Y415N; Y415Q; Y415H; Y415K; Y415R; G416G; G416A; G416S; G416T; G416C; G416V; G416L; G416I; G416M; G416P; G416F; G416Y; G416W; G416D; G416E; G416N; G416Q; G416H; G416K; G416R; S417G; S417A; S417S; S417T; S417C; S417V S417L; S417I; S417M; S417P; S417F; S417Y; S417W; S417D; S417E; S417N; S417Q; S417H; S417K; and S417R.

The CAR variants were screened for activity, and numerous CAR variants were found to exhibit CAR activity.

This example describes the use of CAR for converting carboxylic acids to aldehydes.

Throughout this application various publications have been referenced. The disclosures of these publications in their entireties, including GenBank and GI number publications, are hereby incorporated by reference in this application in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains. Although the invention has been described with reference to the examples provided above, it should be understood that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. 

1. A non-naturally occurring microbial organism, comprising a microbial organism having a propylene pathway comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a propylene pathway enzyme expressed in a sufficient amount to produce propylene; said non-naturally occurring microbial organism further comprising: (i) a reductive TCA pathway comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme, wherein said at least one exogenous nucleic acid is selected from an ATP-citrate lyase, citrate lyase, a citryl-CoA synthetase, a citryl-CoA lyase, a fumarate reductase, and an alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase; (ii) a reductive TCA pathway comprising at least one exogenous nucleic acid encoding a reductive TCA pathway enzyme, wherein said at least one exogenous nucleic acid is selected from a pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, a CO dehydrogenase, and an H₂ hydrogenase; or (iii) at least one exogenous nucleic acid encodes an enzyme selected from a CO dehydrogenase, an H₂ hydrogenase, and combinations thereof; wherein said propylene pathway comprises a pathway selected from: (a) a propylene forming enzyme and a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase; and (b) a propylene forming enzyme, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, and a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase.
 2. The non-naturally occurring microbial organism of claim 1, wherein said microbial organism comprising (i) further comprises an exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme selected from a pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, an aconitase, an isocitrate dehydrogenase, a succinyl-CoA synthetase, a succinyl-CoA transferase, a fumarase, a malate dehydrogenase, an acetate kinase, a phosphotransacetylase, an acetyl-CoA synthetase, an NAD(P)H:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, ferredoxin, and combinations thereof.
 3. The non-naturally occurring microbial organism of claim 1, wherein said microbial organism comprising (ii) further comprises an exogenous nucleic acid encoding an enzyme selected from an aconitase, an isocitrate dehydrogenase, a succinyl-CoA synthetase, a succinyl-CoA transferase, a fumarase, a malate dehydrogenase, and combinations thereof.
 4. The non-naturally occurring microbial organism of claim 1, wherein said microbial organism comprising (i) comprises three exogenous nucleic acids encoding an ATP-citrate lyase or a citrate lyase; a fumarate reductase; and an alpha-ketoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase; wherein said microbial organism comprising (ii) comprises four exogenous nucleic acids encoding a pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase; a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase or a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase; a CO dehydrogenase; and an H₂ hydrogenase; or wherein said microbial organism comprising (iii) comprises two exogenous nucleic acids encoding a CO dehydrogenase and an H₂ hydrogenase.
 5. The non-naturally occurring microbial organism of claim 1, wherein said microbial organism comprises two, three or four exogenous nucleic acids each encoding a propylene pathway enzyme.
 6. The non-naturally occurring microbial organism of claim 5, wherein said microbial organism comprises: (a) two exogenous nucleic acids encoding a propylene forming enzyme and a 2-ketoglutarate methyltransferase; or (b) four exogenous nucleic acids encoding a propylene forming enzyme, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate aldolase, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase II, a 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-ketoglutarate dehydratase I, a 4-methylene-2-ketoglutarate reductase, and a 4-methyl-2-ketoglutaconate reductase.
 7. The non-naturally occurring microbial organism of claim 1, wherein said at least one exogenous nucleic acid is a heterologous nucleic acid.
 8. The non-naturally occurring microbial organism of claim 1, wherein said non-naturally occurring microbial organism is in a substantially anaerobic culture medium.
 9. A method for producing propylene, comprising culturing the non-naturally occurring microbial organism of claim 1 under conditions and for a sufficient period of time to produce propylene.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said non-naturally occurring microbial organism is in a substantially anaerobic culture medium. 